Tokikage
by Lord Dragon Claw
Summary: Another change the demon inside of Naruto fic. Only this time, it's a world devouring beast, and the Kyuubi is dead. Warning: Godlike Naruto. Early chapters are weak, but chapters 3 and up are of a higher caliber. May fix the earlier chapters sometime.
1. Larva

Tokikage

by Lord Dragon Claw

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Lavos belongs to SquareEnix.

Chapter One: Red Star

* * *

Eons ago, a "Red Star" fell from the heavens and scorched the land, killing the various dominant species of the planet. It then burrowed into the core of the world, and slept there. Unlike its brethren, it decided against manipulating the intelligent beings of the planet. Among its brethren, it was an eighth-generation being. It slept for ages, acquiring the genetic data of the inhabitants of the surface of the world, the bloodlines and kekkei genkai in particular. Soon, it was ready to awaken. Once it did, it took it fifty years in order to finally be prepared to surface; but during that time, it didn't collect any data whatsoever.

It chose a location to surface at. Konoha. The Village Hidden in Leaves. However, its timing proved to be its downfall.

* * *

The Yondaime Hokage was worried. It seemed as though no one in the village knew of a way to stop the Kyubi's rampage. To make matters worse, the Kyubi had decided to attack the very day his son was born - also the same day his wife died in childbirth. Suddenly, the Yondaime remembered a special sealing jutsu, and though he couldn't kill the Kyubi or seal the fox demon inside himself with it, he could still use it to stop the nine-tailed Bijuu. And he needed an exceptionally young child for it - no one was younger than his son at the moment, so the Yondaime decided to use him. He knew that the Sandaime would figure out a way to protect his son, and that things should go smoothly.

Once he was finished making his decision, he rushed outside, his son in the crook of his arm, and summoned Gamabunta.

* * *

The Kyubi was quite enjoying himself. He could see the little pests running around, attempting to stop him. He relished in their despair. Oh? What's this? A giant toad? Ah yes, Gamabunta, the toad boss. And another of those "insects" was riding its head. Some new jutsu to attempt to destroy the greatest of the Bijuu? Bring it on!

As the Yondaime nearly completed the jutsu, the ground under the Kyubi began to crack. It jumped back to avoid whatever "jutsu" this happened to be. However, it wasn't a jutsu at all. A large creature with dark brown spines covering it ripped its way out of the ground, sending mountain-sized fragments of the planet's crust into the air. It opened its mouth/eye (which had a single point of white light in the center surrounded by a constantly shifting vortex of color), and took stock of the situation. Spotting the Kyubi, it sent thousands of beams of energy into the air, which then descended onto the demon fox. The nine-tailed fox attempted to dodge, but the attack was too swift. When the barrage finished, the greatest of the Bijuu was no more. The dust cloud obscured the beast, but a few had managed to get an eyeful of it, including Hatake Kakashi.

Then, the being turned its attention toward Konoha. Seeing this, the Yondaime quickly completed his jutsu and charged the beast from the depths of the planet. In its arrogance, the former Red Star merely watched the pathetic human make an attempt to defend the world. Suddenly, the beast was in excruciating pain. Its soul, body, and energies were being drawn into a seal that was written on the belly of an infant. There was nothing the beast was able to do. Perhaps it shouldn't have stopped paying attention to the goings-on of the past fifty years?

The beast had been sealed within the boy who would soon be known as Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

Inside the boy, the beast slept. Most of the villagers and most of the ninja believed it was the Kyubi who was sealed in Naruto, but a few people knew better, and kept their mouths shut. It seemed as though Naruto's life was no different than if he had the now deceased Bijuu sealed within him.

But the first difference appeared in the Wave Country, when a young man named Haku had "killed" Naruto's best friend, Sasuke.

* * *

Naruto was pissed. He was so pissed that the seal on his stomach cracked, just a little. Naruto's hair became dark brown and his eyes turned red. He let out a scream and a burst of power, the combination of which had destroyed Haku's mirrors.

Kakashi and Zabuza halted their fight to observe the beam of power shooting off into the sky, parting the clouds. They heard the scream, and it seemed as though the planet itself trembled in fear.

"What is that?" asked the swordsman.

"A beast from Hell," answered Kakashi.

"Demon?"

"Worse."

"May as well finish our fight though, so that the winner may flee."

"Agreed."

Inside Naruto's mind, the beast was partially awakened. Realizing that it would forever be stuck inside the boy, it then used its vast genetic knowledge in order to begin to make the blonde shinobi the perfect vessel for its glorious power.

Naruto attacked Haku with a ferocity he didn't know he had. All of Haku's attacks were deflected by his very aura of power. He struck at Haku's mask and managed to break it. As he made for the killing strike he noticed who it was; his anger deflated, and the beast lapsed back into full slumber, but the process had already begun and would continue on its own. Naruto would be stronger, smarter, more durable, faster, and have more endurance than he would have had. Additionally, Naruto was given a greater healing factor.

And neither Zabuza nor Kakashi finished their battle before Gatou showed up.

* * *

Continuing on, the second time that the beast was partially awakened was in the Forest of Death, as Naruto and Sasuke faced off against Orochimaru. Working more quickly, the beast managed to accelerate Naruto's evolution, before Orochimaru used his Five-Point Sealer to force the beast back into slumber.

* * *

The third time is the charm, as many have said. The third time the beast was awakened, it was no different. This time, it was awakened fully by Naruto. Naruto was training with Jiraiya, and Jiraiya had managed to teach Naruto how to summon the toads. In order to force Naruto to do it right, all of Naruto's chakra had been drained and the poor boy had been thrown off of a cliff into a deep crevasse. So Naruto had entered his own mind in order to find the Kyubi and use its power. But he was in for a big surprise.

"AH! You're not the Kyubi!"

The creature's mouth/eye was open, but it did nothing. Or it seemed to do nothing.

"Hey, can't you talk?"

Suddenly, it responded. "**I can now."**

"Nani?"

"**I had to learn how to talk. It only took a few seconds, but now I can."**

"Okay... where's the Kyubi? I need his help."

"**That fox? He's been dead for years."**

"Impossible! The Yondaime sealed the Kyubi within me the day I was born!"

"**No he didn't. I killed the Kyubi as a warm-up. I was going to destroy the world when... that 'Yondaime' person sealed me within you."**

"But everyone thinks that the fox was sealed!"

"**Apparently, most people didn't witness me destroying that fox. Anyway, why do you need help?"**

"You're offering to help me?"

"**Why not?"**

"Well... I'm falling off a cliff and I need to summon a toad, a large one, in order to save my skin!"

"**I have a better idea."**

* * *

Returning to the land of the conscious, Naruto looked down. He was still falling at terminal velocity.

_**Alright... **__**Naruto, was it? Okay, you have access to immense magical and spiritual powers now that I am awake. We are going to make a Gate. I'll do the first one for you and choose the exit point and time for you. I want you to pay careful attention.**_

A hole in reality opened up below the young ninja; the hole was a blue and white vortex of energy. Naruto fell through it only to find himself now traveling horizontally above the crevasse, headed straight towards Jiraiya. The old man's eyes became dinner plates as he saw his student suddenly traveling toward him. Once Naruto realized how close he was to the white-haired man, he placed his fastest snap-kick into Jiraiya's jaw.

Speed of Naruto's kick PLUS terminal velocity EQUALS flying pervert. Jiraiya impacted hard into a tree.

_You're right. That was a better idea._

_**Well, let's try to summon a toad now.**_

_Why?_

_**Just to see if you can really do it.**_

_Fine._ Naruto bit his thumb, and placed his palm on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

BOOM! Gamabunta appeared and was confused. Why had Jiraiya summoned him now? Oh wait, there was the pervert trying to get the swirls out of his eyes and with an impressive bump on his head. Gamabunta's tongue lashed out (Naruto counted eleven tongue piercings on it) and grabbed Jiraiya.

"WHY HAVE YOU SUMMONED ME?"

Suddenly, the giant toad boss felt something alight upon his head.

"He didn't summon you; I did. He threw me off of a cliff and I summoned you to beat the marrow out of him."

"YOU COULDN'T HAVE SUMMONED ME!"

_**Tell him that you're the one who Yondaime used to seal away the being that slaughtered the Kyubi.**_

"Oh yeah? Remember that being that annihilated the demon fox? The Yondaime sealed it inside of me."

"WELL... YOU'D NEED TO HAVE SIGNED THE CONTRACT!"

Naruto hopped down and yanked the giant scroll out of the toad's grip. He then unrolled it. Just after the Yondaime's name, Naruto's name was signed in his own blood.

"OKAY... YOU DID SUMMON ME. DOESN'T MEAN I'LL DO AS YOU SAY!"

"Let me put it this way: you're pissed, I'm pissed at Ero-sennin here, and he happens to be in your grip. Have fun!"

Gamabunta began to grin.

"Naruto! I swear, if I ever get my hands on you..."

"Assuming you still have hands."

Naruto left the perverted Sannin to his fate.

* * *

_Now what?_

_**Now we train. You have many spells to learn, and so little time in which to learn them. You have like what, three days until the finals?**_

_Yeah...__Nowhere near enough time. Crap._

_**Are you forgetting the Gate already? Not only can we use them to travel distance, but time as well. I suggest we go to that Wave Country again, and arrive about five minutes after you left.**_

_I see your point. Let's go!_

The blonde focused on his chi, his spiritual energy. Another hole in reality later, and Naruto was in the Wave Country again. Months of training later, and Naruto created another hole in reality to arrive about three minutes after he had initially left.

Naruto didn't look much stronger physically, but that was because he had suppressed the expansion of his muscles. His chakra, mana, and chi reserves and control had vastly improved. The biggest differences were much more noticeable. His hair was no longer a golden blonde, but a bronzed-blonde. His eyes, although still a piercing blue, were now full of power and ferocity. And the ways he held himself and moved about was more like that of a deadly predator than a harmless prankster, just waiting for the most profitable moment to strike.

_Well, I should be strong enough by now._

_**Yes, you should be superior to everyone else in every way now. I'm also working on developing a new kekkei genkai for you.**_

_I am so going to wipe the floor with Neji after I skin him alive!_

_**Hey. Rein in your arrogance, Naruto. Arrogance is our only weakness now. The being I was descended from was far too arrogant and wasn't able to reap a full harvest.**_

_Right, right.__Hmm... What are you called, as a species?_

_**Let's see... We've been called many things, but I think our favorite name came from that very being I mentioned before. The six humans and one robot who destroyed it called it Lavos. "La" meaning fire and "Vos" meaning big.**_

_So I should just refer to you as Lavos from now on, eh?_

_**That would be perfect.**_

_Now what?_

_**Act like the old you. The one before I awakened.**_

Naruto suddenly heard the agonizing scream of a pervert. Naruto smiled.

_Nearly forgot about that._

_**Let's go watch.**_

And so he did.

* * *

Lavos had suggested discussing tactics with Shikamaru, and so they did. Naruto realized that despite his poor grades, Shikamaru was a master tactician, if a lazy one.

Naruto felt confident that he could tell Shikamaru about Lavos, and Lavos had no objections.

"Let me get this straight," began the lazy ninja. "The Kyubi that attacked the village has been dead since the night it attacked, and this 'Rabosu'..."

"Lavos," corrected Naruto.

"Whatever. It killed the demon fox and the Yondaime sacrificed himself to seal it within you, right?"

"That pretty much sums it up."

"And the beast speaks to you in your head?"

"Yeah. It no longer wants to blow up the planet. It just doesn't want to die is all."

* * *

Naruto and Shikamaru eventually decided to visit Rock Lee in the hospital, and found Gaara prepared to kill Lee in his sleep.

Shikamaru stopped Gaara with his Kagemane no Jutsu, and Naruto slugged Gaara in the head, causing Shikamaru to also stumble.

"Who do you think you are, killing people in their sleep?" demanded Naruto.

Gaara blinked. "I should kill people while they're awake?"

Naruto was ready to yell at the Sunanin again, when he realized what Gaara said. Naruto simply shut his mouth.

"Why do you want to kill him anyway?" asked Shikamaru.

"To verify my existence." The two Konohanins raised their eyebrows. Gaara continued. "If you keep interfering, I'll kill you too."

"With what?" asked Naruto, causing Shikamaru to think Naruto had lapsed into stupidity again. "With the power of Shukaku the Sand Priest? Don't make me laugh."

"... How did you know that the tanuki demon was inside me?"

"I can smell his fear," stated Naruto cryptically. "You yourself have no fears whatsoever, but Shukaku does. He fears the monster within me - the monster who killed the Kyubi no kitsune. He fears that my monster will annihilate him as easily as the Kyubi was slaughtered - with one attack."

"(Naruto?)" whispered Shikamaru. "(What are you doing?)" Naruto simply smirked at him in response.

"... I'm not scared," stated Gaara emotionlessly.

"Say," began Shikamaru. "What did you mean by 'verify' your 'existence'?"

"... I'll give you the short version. My father, the Lord Kazekage, sealed Shukaku within me to turn me into a powerful weapon. He succeeded, but my unstable state of mind caused those in power to see me as a liability. So they decided to try and assassinate me. They've been trying for the past six years. During those six years, I found a purpose for living: 'I exist to kill all humans other than myself.' So I must kill this fool in green to verify my existence, and if you don't let me do that right now, I'll kill both of you."

Shikamaru was a bit nervous. Naruto, on the other hand, simply walked up to Gaara and put his hand on the red-haired boy's shoulder.

"If Sasuke doesn't beat some sense into you, I will. And then I'll beat the stuffing out of Sasuke for losing to someone like you."

Gaara was unsure how to take that. Most people cowered in fear when they knew of his power and were in his presence. Why did this other boy with bronze-gold hair stand up to him? Why wasn't he afraid? Suddenly, he felt Shikamaru's hold on him wearing off.

"... Now. Help me feel alive!" Gaara's sand rose up into the air and was quickly gathering in order to kill the three other people in the room.

Then, Might Guy walked in. "ENOUGH! The finals are tomorrow, so you should wait until then unless you'd rather become an inpatient."

At the sight of the Jounin, Gaara's head began to hurt as he was still perplexed as to why Guy would save Lee. Gaara made for the door, swaying like a drunkard the whole way.

"Just you wait..." Gaara said as he reached the door. "I will kill you all!" And then he was gone.

"Thanks, Guy-sensei," exhaled Shikamaru.

"Yeah," said Naruto, sounding a bit disappointed. "If I fought him in here we might have hurt Lee."

"What makes you think you could have won, Naruto?" asked Guy.

"Because like him, I have a monster sealed within me, but..." Naruto blinked. "Why are you covering Shikamaru's ears? He already knows."

"Oh. Gomen. Well, please continue."

"As I was saying, I also have a monster sealed within me, but mine is not trying to take control. It is, in fact, trying to help me. Besides, my monster is many times stronger than his."

"True," said Guy, closing his eyes and rubbing his chin in thought. "The Kyubi is the strongest of the Bijuu, having nine tails, and Shukaku is the weakest, having only one."

Shikamaru and Naruto looked at each other. Shikamaru's face was contorted in such a way as to ask "should I tell him?" Naruto shook his head.

* * *

"Hello, Hinata!" called out the container for a Lavos.

"Eeep!" she replied, and tried to hide behind the training post. How did Naruto know she was stalk... er, following him?

"Is that some sort of Hyuga greeting? Come on out. I don't bite."

Hinata blushed as she came out from behind the post. "Um... please don't hurt Neji-niisan too badly..."

"Oh please. I know you want to see him kicked off of his high horse. I'll gladly do that for you. After all, he did almost kill you."

Hinata blushed even more deeply. "But... um..."

"Fine. I won't kill him or permanently injure him."

"Thank you..."

"Don't mention it. See ya around." As he began to leave he then called out. "You know, I used to be creeped-out by people like you..." Hinata looked ready to cry. "... but I realized I like creepy people. Be sure to cheer for me!"

Hinata blushed again, but rather than looking nervous, she looked happy. She wasn't sure whether she was glad or disappointed that Naruto wasn't looking at her face. Then she noticed the way Naruto was walking - as if he was a predator stalking an easy kill; or was it more like a master ninja walking very efficiently? How had he changed so much in the one-month interval in which she didn't see him much?

* * *

Opening match...

"Well, it seems as though Naruto's late," remarked Genma.

"He probably ran away," said Neji, confidently.

"Well, he'll automatically forfeit if he's not here in five minutes."

_Where is he?_ thought both Sakura and Hinata at the same time.

Suddenly, their question was answered. A large blue and white vortex opened up and Naruto stuck his head out.

"Is this the place where the finals for the Chuunin Exam are being held?" he asked. The whole stadium was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. "I'll take that as a yes." He then hopped out of the portal.

Up in the stands, both the Hokage and the man who looked like the Kazekage shared a look.

"What jutsu is that?" asked the man with the kanji for "wind" on his hat.

"I haven't a clue," replied the Sandaime.

"Alright. Begin." declared Genma, the referee for the matches as Hayate had been found dead.

"Do you think of yourself as some sort of hero entering in at the last moment?" asked a peeved Neji.

Naruto laughed darkly. "I am no hero. Nor will beating the fluids out of your pancreas, liver, and appendix turn me into a hero."

Neji shook his head. "Perhaps you don't realize your fate. You were the dead-last, and always will be. A failure can be nothing other than a failure. You have already lost this match, just as Lee lost his regardless of how hard he had tried. Just like how Hinata lost hers. You are doomed to fail. No one can change who they are. And... you're not even listening to me, are you!?"

Naruto was completely unfazed by all of Neji's taunts, but his concentration hadn't even broken once. "Does it hurt?"

"What?"

"I asked you if it hurts."

"If what hurts?"

"Having a katana stuck up your anus."

Neji was pissed. He activated his Byakugan. He dropped into a special stance that all the other Hyuga who were watching instantly recognized and charged Naruto. Naruto looked bored out of his mind and made no effort to dodge. Neji then struck Naruto twice. Then four times. Then eight. Sixteen. Thirty-two. Sixty-four. And the attack was finished. All of Naruto's tenketsu (chakra points) had been sealed, and he had simply stood and took it.

"There. Now you can no longer fight me, now that your favorite jutsu has been locked away."

"Hmm... you've temporarily removed my ability to use chakra? That's all?"

Neji looked shocked. How could he be capable of fighting now?

"I'm disappointed in you. The great Hyuga genius Neji is nothing more than a pathetic weakling."

"You're bluffing!"

"Am I?" Naruto lifted his hand into the air and electricity began to gather all over his body. Suddenly, it stopped crackling about him. Naruto relaxed his muscles, his arms falling to his sides. He then raised his right arm towards Neji and opened his palm at him. "Crying Heavens!"

Neji was struck by a bolt of lightning from the relatively clear sky.

"I assume you have no knowledge of this jutsu either?" asked the Kazekage.

"Correct," replied the Hokage.

A singed Neji rose from the ground. How was the failure able to use a jutsu? His chakra points had all been sealed!

"You're probably wondering how I was able to do that," began Naruto confidently. "Chakra is the combination of the physical and mental energies of one's own body, correct? I found a way to use the mental energy, called mana, by itself. Come to find out, my forebears all had the ability to use mana as well."

The Hokage was confused. _His father was able to use this "mana"? I never knew that. Or maybe his mother was able to do it. More pressing question is: how did he find out?_

"Fine. I couldn't take away your jutsus. I'll just have to dissect your insides!"

Neji charged Naruto again, but this time the blonde shinobi back-pedaled, and started running backwards up the wall. Neji didn't bother following him, figuring that Naruto wouldn't risk hitting himself with that "Crying Heavens" jutsu. Neji was totally blindsided when Naruto simply hit him with a "Dark Bomb", sending the Hyuga flying into the center of the arena.

"How about that one?" asked the curious leader of Suna.

"Nope," replied the old man.

Neji quickly regained his wits to see that Naruto had climbed higher up the wall.

"You know, sealing my chakra points was useless anyway," Naruto shouted at him. He concentrated, and Lavos's chakra filled his chakra coils, healing all the damage Neji had managed to do. Neji's mouth was agape as Naruto manifested his chakra as an aura. "I can regenerate any damage you do to me, and I have a bunch of attacks that you have no defense against. It seems as though _you_ are the one who is destined to fail."

_**Naruto. **__**I have finished the first stage of the kekkei genkai. It is an eye-based one, like the Sharingan and Byakugan. It is ready any time you are.**_

_Thanks._

"By the way, would you like to see my kekkei genkai?"

"You... have a bloodline limit?" everyone who could hear what was going on was astonished that Naruto had a kekkei genkai.

"Yes. I'll show it to you." Naruto closed his eyes, to disguise the activation of his kekkei genkai. His chakra aura swirled around him as he placed his hands in the universal seal of concentration. _Okay, Lavos. Activate it._

"Rabosugan!" called out Naruto, his eyes shooting open. The pupil of each eye was still there, but instead of whites or irises, there was a swirling, churning vortex of multicolored energy. Upon activation, Naruto had a massive headache, but he didn't show it outwardly. His pain was caused by seeing everything in a kilometer radius from his head, and memorizing everything.

_**Careful, Naruto.**_ _**You need to allow yourself a minute to adjust. Just like the Byakugan, you have a 360 degree field of vision that can see through everything, and just like the Sharingan, you can see chakra flow and memorize every movement and detail in your field of vision. There is another eye-based bloodline that allows you to see even greater distances than the Byakugan, and I threw that one in there too. Your head hurts because of all the information your eyes are feeding it. I'll deal with the headache and I can help you concentrate on the match too.**_

_Thanks, Lavos. I appreciate it._

Meanwhile, Neji's jaw had gone slack. So had the jaw of Neji's uncle, Hiashi, and the jaw of his daughters, Hinata and Hanabi.

"What kekkei genkai is this?" asked the Kazekage.

"Apparently it's a new one," replied the old man with the kanji for "fire" on his hat.

_How troublesome,_ thought Shikamaru. _He decided to name it "Lavos Eye"? He even used my mispronunciation of the name to name it._

Temari was surprised by the existence of yet another kekkei genkai. How many were there? Kankuro was having similar thoughts.

All over the stadium various ninja were discussing the existence of a new bloodline limit. The rest of the spectators realized that this fight was going to be an interesting one indeed.

"Now," said Naruto in an evil tone of voice. "Let the match truly begin!"

* * *

End Chapter One.

Next chapter: Mind games with the Hyuga and drop-kicking an invasion.

Author's Notes

Yes. A God-Naruto fic. Another idea that just wouldn't leave me alone. Again, LordShadner had something to do with the idea.

The intervals of time between the times that Lavos is partially awakened are exactly like cannon. I didn't see a point in rewriting them again.

MagusNecromancer and FlyGod return as prereaders.

Not too much humor in this one, but then again, not everything can be as funny as The Laughing Fox or the Goblins' Fist. This is the first chapter anyway. In upcoming chapters I'll add more humor.

Yes, Naruto is becoming calmer and thinks things more thoroughly. What did you expect him to do when he's got a friggin' Lavos sealed within him? Lavoses are patient beings. Arrogant, but patient. Hell, in _Chrono Trigger_, Lavos manipulates an entire civilization (Zeal) without uttering a single word _**in his sleep!**_

Interesting kekkei genkai, isn't it? Rabosu is how Lavos would be spelled with katakana, so I added "gan" or eye to the end of it.

I certainly like to use the spell "Dark Bomb", don't I?

Naruto's Spellbook:

Destruction Rains from the Heavens  
Many beams of energy rise up from Lavos and land where he directs them. The beams can be detonated on command as well. Mana-based attack.

Gate (Timegate)  
Using chi alone, a hole in the space/time continuum is created, allowing the caster to travel to any point in time on any point of a given planet.

Kuchiyose no jutsu  
Summoning technique. Need I explain more? Uses chakra.

Crying Heavens  
Mana-based. Charging up with electricity (optional), the caster can then send a large amount of pure mana into his opponent. The attack is impossible to block and almost impossible to dodge, giving it a secondary name, "Hidden Blow". Has no actual element even though it looks like lightning.

Dark Bomb  
Mana-based. Hits target and surrounding area with an explosion of shadow-element energies. Powerful, practical, and relatively simple to cast.

Rabosugan  
Kekkei genkai. Details in the next chapter.


	2. End of the Chuunin Exams

Tokikage

by Lord Dragon Claw

Disclaimer: Good man washes hands after urinating; wise man does not urinate on hands.

Chapter Two: End of the Chuunin Exams

* * *

Naruto leapt off of the wall at Neji, a vulpine grin on his face. As Naruto neared, Neji smirked. 

"Kaiten!"

Neji spun in place, releasing a large amount of chakra in all directions. Naruto was hit by the attack, and was thrown backwards. However, Naruto did a back flip in midair and landed gracefully on his feet. But Neji was behind him - he had used the shunshin to get behind the bronze-blonde. Just as Neji was about to strike with a kunai, Naruto threw his head backwards, breaking Neji's nose. Then, Naruto did something that shocked everyone in the stadium - he used a jutsu he had seen only moments before.

"Kaiten!"

Whereas Neji's Kaiten had a four-meter (thirteen-foot) radius, Naruto's filled about half the area of the arena floor. Neji was thrown into the wall by the fierce attack. Naruto laughed as everyone in the stadium fell silent in astonishment.

"You're probably wondering how I did that," began the container for Lavos as Neji slowly got to his feet. "The Rabosugan is like the Byakugan in that it allows me to have 360-degree x-ray vision, except that the range for that vision is considerably larger. It is also like the Sharingan in that it allows me to memorize everything I see and allows me to copy jutsu. Come on, Mr. Genius. You don't stand a chance. You may believe in fate but I don't. That is why there is a difference in our strengths. I worked for mine and you were destined to obtain yours. My destiny was to be hated by nearly everyone in the village, but I have worked hard and rose above that destiny. You, on the other hand, were born into one of the most prestigious clans in Konoha, the clan that everyone respects, and yet you still are a pessimist. I am giving you this one chance to give up. If you don't take it I'll make you pay for all the harm you brought to Hinata. What say you?"

"I say you talk too much," stated Neji.

Naruto shook his head.

"So be it. Kagebunshin."

Naruto created only one clone which leapt at Neji. The Hyuga boy ducked under the clone and charged at Naruto.

"Crying Heavens!" the clone called out. Neji was hit by the attack again. Before the boy could fall, Naruto caught him with a single finger.

"Something smells good," he remarked in a mocking tone. "What's cooking? Oh yeah. You."

Naruto turned to see that his clone had finished setting up a volleyball net. Most everyone in the stadium sweatdropped while Naruto and his clone kicked or punched the poor Hyuga boy over the net without letting him touch the ground. The few people who weren't sweatdropping were laughing their heads off. Among these were people such as Kiba and Ino. Finally, Naruto spiked Neji into his clone (which disappeared with a puff of smoke).

"I can see you've had enough," Naruto said to the barely conscious boy. "Remember this, Neji: if a 'failure' such as I was able to change my destiny, then a 'genius' should be able to as well."

"I will remember that," promised Neji.

"Good."

Genma declared Naruto to be the winner. Then, Naruto approached Neji.

"Here, let me undo some of the damage I have done," said the bronze-blonde.

"Cure." Naruto's hair was swept up in an otherworldly breeze as blue energy exited from his hands into Neji's body, healing his bones and his skin, numbing the pain, and returning energy to Neji's body. As the spell completed, Naruto's hair returned to normal.

"I suggest you rest, Neji. I may have healed you, but you'll still need to recuperate."

As the medic-nins took Neji away, Naruto headed for the staircase.

* * *

Naruto realized the disadvantage of having his Rabosugan turned on, as he saw everything about everyone. He knew Jiraiya would love to have this power for that reason, but the problem was that there were wrinkled old men and women in the stadium. Naruto would be mentally scarred for life! 

Naruto blinked. He blinked again. And again. Again. And then he shut his eyes tightly and opened them.

"Dammit!"

_How come you didn't tell me that I wouldn't be able to turn off the Rabosugan?_

_**Even god-like beings need to find amusement somehow.**_

_I dislike you with great intensity._

Lavos's roaring laughter filled Naruto's mind.

_By the way, did you mess with my mind at all to allow me to handle this much information?_

_**No, your brain did that on its own.**_

_Is that natural?_

_**No.**_

"Dammit!"

* * *

Shikamaru met Naruto at the top of the stairs. They began walking to the balcony. 

"Nice match."

"Thanks."

"I couldn't help feeling that you were toying with him."

"I was."

"What's wrong? You sound tense."

"I can't deactivate the Rabosugan."

"Do you not know how?"

"I wish that were the case, but no. It simply can't be deactivated." Naruto turned his head. "That is disorienting."

"What do you mean?"

"No matter which way I turn my head, body, or eyes, everything looks exactly the same! And I think my range of sight is slowly increasing over time..."

Meanwhile, they announced the Shino vs. Kankuro match, which Kankuro gave up in order to hide Karasu's poison mechanisms. Then they announced Temari vs. Shikamaru. Temari exited the balcony while riding her oversized war fan. Shikamaru was planning on giving up when Naruto spoke.

"Did you know that Sakura stuffs her bra?"

Facefault off the balcony! Naruto looked over the edge to see Shikamaru glaring at him, though there wasn't much heat in the glare.

"Might as well fight," said Shikamaru, thinking out loud. He lazily walked to the center of the ring to start his match. As he approached the center, he realized that the only way Naruto was able to know the fact that Sakura stuffs was because of the Rabosugan. Shikamaru was glad he was friends with such a powerful person.

* * *

As Shikamaru fought Temari, Naruto noticed several things were wrong. He could see them. The Kazekage was actually some sort of woman in disguise, and his "two" guards were actually four in number. Several ANBU members were wearing Otonin or Sunanin forehead protectors under their masks. One of them was Kabuto wearing an Otonin forehead protector under his mask. 

Naruto began to focus his Rabosugan outwards. Outside the village he saw many different Sunanins and Otonins doing all sorts of things like creating a summoning circle just outside the walls.

"Kankuro, was it?"

"Yeah? What do you want?"

"Any reason why several of your village's ninja are in and around the village?"

Kankuro looked at Naruto with a horrified look on his face that lasted for only a fraction of a second, but Naruto caught it.

"I thought so," said Naruto in a scarily calm manner.

* * *

Gaara was puzzled about his "Mother". Or was it Shukaku? Whoever the voice in his head was, it was acting in the most peculiar of behaviors. Whereas it would normally be demanding for the bronze-blonde's blood as he was an obviously strong opponent, it was now begging Gaara to not piss him off. The voice would even scream and plead in fear whenever Gaara came within three meters of the boy. Most peculiar... 

Kankuro was extremely nervous. This Naruto kid was a pathetic wimp before the Chuunin Exams had begun, and now he was evidently stronger than almost everyone he had ever met. And he knew something of the invasion plan. The puppeteer had no idea what to do. He wished his older sister was there to think it out, but she was busy with the match.

* * *

Soon, the match between Temari and Shikamaru had ended with Temari as the winner, but only because the lazy male Genin gave up after he had caught Temari with his shadow. Temari, rather frustrated yet secretly satisfied with her victory, used her giant war fan to get back to the balcony. Naruto hopped off the balcony to greet Shikamaru. 

Once the blonde boy was off the balcony, Kankuro told Temari that Naruto knew about the invasion. He didn't know the plan, but he knew about the invasion itself. Temari decided that they should wait and see what the odd boy was going to do.

* * *

Naruto read the lips of Kankuro and Temari even though they were behind him. Now she knew that he knew. Big deal. 

"You gave up anyway, huh?"

"You knew I was going to at the start, and that's why you told me that tidbit of information, huh?"

"It's true, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Anyway, we have more pressing matters..."

"Like what?"

"Enemy invasion."

"How troublesome... well, how bad is it?"

"For starters, that's not the Kazekage up there. Let me explain everything that's been going on... No, there is too much. Let me sum up." Naruto continued to tell his lazy friend the details. Naruto knew that Shikamaru was better at strategy than he, so he figured that the shadow-wielder should be enlightened on events. Suddenly, Naruto stopped in his summarization.

"What is it?"

"Sasuke just appeared at the last second, and now Gaara is coming down the stairs. I think we should move, as he just annihilated two Jounin who were in his way."

Naruto opened a Gate and they both hurried through. The exit led directly behind Kakashi who was in the stands.

"Your entrance was not as impressive as mine, Kakashi-sensei."

"GAH!!!" said the Jounin uncharacteristically, obviously startled. He jumped ten feet in the air and somehow clung to the solid, smooth concrete ceiling of that particular area of the stands.

"Good reflexes," commented Shikamaru.

Dropping down, Kakashi was puzzled as to how the two Genin were able to sneak up behind him without his notice. Then, he noticed Naruto's eyes.

"What's with your eyes?"

"Never mind that," replied the bronze-blonde. "We have a situation. See that ANBU over there?"

"Yeah."

"That's Kabuto, and he's wearing an Otonin forehead protector. So is that ANBU over there, and that one, and that one... That one's from Suna though. And that's not the Kazekage up there. It's someone else... its aura is that of a male... kinda... but it looks female to me."

"How do you know all this?"

"His Rabosugan," stated Shikamaru. "It's like a hyperactive combination of the Sharingan and the Byakugan. It has all the powers of both doujutsu with the only setback being that he can't turn it off."

"You have a kekkei genkai?"

"See what you miss when you're late all the time?"

Kakashi had no witty response, so Naruto continued.

"Essentially, I do believe we are about to be attacked by both Sunanins and Otonins. Oh, would that happen to be that Raikiri you used on Haku?"

"Chidori, actually."

Sasuke was employing the familiar lightning-based assassination jutsu against Gaara, who had encased himself in a sphere of sand. Using the speeds he developed during taijutsu training with Kakashi, he avoided Gaara's counterattack and stabbed straight through the barrier, hitting the psychotic Sunanin in the left shoulder.

"Interesting jutsu," commented Naruto. "I think I can perform it now. Anyway, Sasuke missed Gaara's vitals."

They could hear the sand-wielder's animalistic growl, and then an arm made of sand punched Sasuke out of the way. The arm looked like it belonged to some sort of furry animal, if you considered sand to be fur.

It was at this time that Kabuto activated a genjutsu. Many Konohanins used the command word "kai", or release, to cancel out the effect on themselves. Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kakashi were among these.

As Gaara's sand barrier dropped, his two older siblings hopped down to help him and they took off. Sasuke chased after them as the various enemy ninja attacked.

A Sunanin tried to attack Naruto from behind but the bronze-blonde half-turned towards him.

"Fire," Naruto said as he raised his left hand to the ninja. A jet of flame exited his palm and set the man from Suna on fire. He started to roll on the ground to put out the flames while he screamed when one of Shikamaru's kunai was suddenly sticking out of his neck.

Guy could be seen beating the snot out of various enemy ninja. Genma was facing off against Baki, a Jounin from Suna. Kakashi had joined the fray. Essentially, it was chaos.

The Kazekage had a kunai to the Hokage's neck. The "two" guards split into four and stood at each corner of the roof of the building they were at. They created a barrier to keep outside interference down to zero.

Sakura finally made it over to where Naruto and Shikamaru were.

"What's going on!?" she yelled above the din of fighting.

"An invasion, obviously," stated Naruto. Kakashi suddenly appeared near them.

"Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru, I have a mission for you," he said. "It is an A-Rank mission. Go and keep Sasuke from killing himself. I will send with you one of my Ninken. Kuchiyose!"

A small pug wearing a ninja outfit appeared. It had a henohenomoheji on its back.

"Pakkun," began Kakashi. "Go with them to get Sasuke." With that, Kakashi went back to the business of killing Otonin and Sunanin.

Pakkun sniffed the air. "Is that Floral Green brand shampoo I smell? The variety known as Minty Rainforest Mist with extra body?"

Naruto and Shikamaru both made the well-known Spock Maneuver with their eyebrows.

"Why, yes," Sakura said. "That's the exact type of shampoo I use."

"Me too," said the pug.

Sakura's eyes became wide and she cringed at the thought that she used the same kind of shampoo as a dog. Seeing her reaction, the two boys chuckled.

"Well, let's get moving," said Naruto. "Sasuke's catching up to Gaara and his siblings."

"How do you know that?" asked Pakkun.

"My kekkei genkai."

He explained its abilities along the way.

* * *

"We're being followed," stated Naruto. 

"What?" asked Pakkun. The little dog sniffed the air. "Oh. You're right."

"Group of eight with a ninth one trailing them in case of traps."

"I'll stay behind to slow them down," volunteered Shikamaru. "Naruto is the only one among us who can stand up to Gaara and I'm more likely to survive an enemy encounter than Sakura is."

"Hey!" For obvious reasons, Sakura was annoyed.

"You only have to survive long enough for your Jounin instructor to arrive," counseled Naruto. "Asuma is on his way."

Sakura was completely caught off-guard by the fact that Naruto had totally ignored her. What had happened in his training anyway?

"Good to know," responded Shikamaru, also ignoring the pink-haired girl.

"Be careful anyway, you lazy genius. You're still low on chakra."

"Don't worry about me. Just complete the mission."

* * *

"Hmm..." 

"What?" asked the girl and the dog in unison.

"Well, the emo kid who wears mascara and plays with dolls-"

"You mean the puppeteer, Kankuro?" verified Sakura.

"... Yes. He broke off from the group to slow Sasuke down. Shino arrived and started fighting Mr. Mascara instead. That means Sasuke is still chasing after Temari and Gaara."

"We should go around so as to not get caught up in Shino's and Kankuro's fight," suggested Pakkun.

"I have a better idea: Gate!"

Just ahead of them appeared a tear in the space-time continuum. It was a swirling hole of colors (most of which were shades of blue).

"Are you sure it's safe to go through that thing?" asked Sakura.

Rather than grace her stupid question with a verbal response, Naruto simply grabbed her by the arm and grabbed Pakkun by the scruff of his neck and jumped through the portal. They appeared practically on top of Sasuke's heels.

"Hello again, dobe," greeted Sasuke without stopping or turning around. "Learned a new teleportation jutsu I see."

"Something like that, Sasuke-teme."

"Saaaasuuuukeeee-kuuuun!!" swooned the pink-haired girl.

"You'd better not get in the way," warned the Uchiha boy. "Who's the dog?" He still hadn't looked back or slowed down, much less stopped.

"I am Pakkun, one of Kakashi's dogs."

"Sasuke-kun! Kakashi-sensei ordered us to stop you from attacking Gaara!"

"I don't care."

"Now Sakura," said the bronze-blonde. Sasuke made note that Naruto hadn't called her "Sakura-chan". "If Sasuke-teme wants to commit suicide, honor demands that we let him-" Sakura was obviously horrified. "-but I don't care much for what other people assume to be honor. We're ninja, not samurai."

"So you're not going to stop me?"

"I'll let you get the crap beat out of you. Then I'll save your sorry hide."

"So the dobe continues to boast? So-"

"Hey look! We finally caught them!"

* * *

The Sandaime Hokage was facing off against Orochimaru. They had just barely been sealed within the barrier that Orochimaru's four pawns had set up. 

ANBU were waiting outside the barrier looking for an opportunity to enter the barrier to protect the old man.

"I should have killed you years ago, Orochimaru."

"I agree, Sarutobi. Allow me to teach you the error of your past judgment!"

The two powerful and skilled ninjas broke out of their standoff to fight.

* * *

"Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no jutsu!" (Summoning: Cart Destroyer no jutsu) 

The three-headed snake that had been summoned to terrorize Konoha had one of its heads cut off by a giant toad with two katanas. Jiraiya stood on its head.

"Snakes quiver in fear when in the presence of a toad!" boasted the perverted old man. He then turned to the ninja behind him. "We'll take care of the snake. You guys go after the small fry."

* * *

All around Konoha, the tide of battle began to shift in favor of the Leaf. The Akimichi clan members could be seen using their giant-based jutsus. Nara Shikaku could be seen strangling several enemies with his shadow. The Yamanaka clan members could be seen turning their enemies each upon the other. The Inuzuka clan members were seen attacking in tandem with their dogs alongside the bug-using Aburame clan members. The Hyuga clan was also taking their share of enemies.

* * *

Naruto had let Sasuke attack with the Chidori for the second time that day. The Uchiha had missed. Then the boy had foolishly decided to try and use the Chidori a third time, but his cursed seal activated and sapped his strength. Sakura tried to protect the Uchiha from Gaara, who was partially transformed into a tanuki made of sand, but she got trapped against a tree. 

"Going to try your luck?" said Gaara, psychotically. "If you don't attack me then your friends will die!"

"True," replied the bronze-blonde. "But you have forgotten who you are dealing with."

Naruto lifted his arms into the air and concentrated his mana into a summoning spell.

"GRAND STONE!"

A gigantic boulder appeared in Naruto's hands. Using magic to help propel his ridiculously large projectile forward, he threw it at Gaara whose Suna no Tate (Shield of Sand) was unable to stop it. Gaara managed to slow it enough that he wasn't killed by it.

* * *

Sasuke was confounded. When did Naruto gain such strength? And what was up with his eyes? What kind of jutsu was that? 

The Uchiha watched as Gaara transformed into a giant tanuki made of sand, pushing the Grand Stone off of him. The giant rock then disappeared.

Gaara then appeared on the forehead of the sand monstrosity and made a few seals.

"Tanuki Neiri no jutsu!" (Forced Sleep no jutsu)

The redhead slumped forward while the giant sand tanuki came alive and began to laugh maniacally.

Somewhere nearby, Temari was debating whether she should run when she saw Naruto's hair begin to glow...

* * *

_Lavos?_

_**Yes?**_

_How am I supposed to fight that?_

_**Well, there is one spell you could use...**_

"Destruction Rains from the Heavens!"

Naruto's hair began to glow, golden at first, and then it shined bright white. Energy shot upwards into the sky and then split into more than a thousand individual beams. The energy began to rain down on the giant tanuki.

The concussive force from some of the blasts from Naruto's attack woke up Gaara, forcing the tanuki back to his sub-conscious. Gaara tried to shield himself with the sand but the blasts were too powerful for his sand to stop. Soon, Gaara lay, barely conscious, in one of many small craters.

Naruto walked up to the redhead.

"How... how did you get so strong?"

"I depend upon my precious people to give me the drive to win. It also helps that the monster sealed within me is much stronger than the one sealed in you."

"Precious people?"

"Yes. I trust your siblings won't kill Sakura or Sasuke-teme?"

Behind the bronze-blonde, Temari and Kankuro (who had survived his fight with Shino) nodded in agreement.

"Good. You may leave. I have some business to attend to."

Naruto opened a Gate, jumped through, and was gone.

* * *

The Sandaime Hokage was exhausted. Somehow, Orochimaru had found a way to bring the first two Hokages back to life and made them obey his orders. Sarutobi had managed to summon the Monkey King, Enma, but even with the help of his friend he wasn't able to beat the snake ninja. He then used Kagebunshin to create two clones of himself, but they were hit with kunai as soon as they appeared. 

Orochimaru had thrown the kunai to prevent his former master from being able to use the Yondaime's sealing jutsu. He then threw his Kusanagi towards the old man, expecting it to stab him through the heart and finish him off. Enma, who was wrapped in snakes, tried to catch the blade as it passed him, but he couldn't.

Just before it reached the old man, it disappeared into a familiar-looking portal. The portal was about 90 centimeters in diameter, just large enough for the Kusanagi to go into it.

Orochimaru felt the presence of someone behind him. He turned to see that Naruto was just stepping out of another portal. Both portals then disappeared.

"Hello again, Orochimaru. You're not going to get your sword back. I hope you know that."

The Shodai and Nidaime Hokages attacked the bronze-blonde. Naruto leapt back while swinging a kunai in front of him in a downward motion.

"Slash!"

The Shodai Hokage was split in half. His body dissolved to reveal the corpse of Tsuchi Kin (the female Otonin from the Chuunin exams).

"Triple Kick!"

Naruto kicked the Nidaime Hokage in the head with enough force to shatter a mountain three times in succession. His head went flying. His body dissolved to reveal the decapitated corpse of Abumi Zaku.

"Those techniques were ki-based," began Naruto, talking to no one in particular. "Mana is the mental half of chakra. Ki is the physical half. It is my life-force amplified into a weapon."

He turned his attention to Orochimaru. As he did so, he held out his right hand and amplified an immense amount of mana into a sphere that was darker than the blackest night.

"Defense Seal!"

The sphere split into several smaller spheres that flew straight towards Orochimaru. The snake ninja tried to dodge but the little spheres followed his every move. Soon, he was hit by them. He didn't feel any different. Well, he didn't until Naruto punched him in the chest, breaking all of his ribs. Orochimaru screamed in agony. Before anything else could happen, Naruto punched again, smashing the snake ninja's heart, killing him instantly.

The Sound Four dropped the barrier and tried to run for it.

"Kagebunshin!"

Sakon found himself face-to-face with several Narutos before his world went black. Ukon tried to take over the body so they could still run when he was knocked unconscious as well.

Tayuya was captured and rendered unconscious by the ANBU who were waiting for the barrier to be dropped.

Jirobo was dog-piled by no fewer than one-hundred Narutos. The sudden application of that much weight was too much for the fat man's brain to handle and he passed out.

Kidomaru hadn't even taken two steps when the real Naruto shocked him with Crying Heavens while a single clone moved in to hit the six-armed man in a pressure point to put him to sleep.

"Amazing," commented one of the ANBU. "Not only did he find a way inside, but he killed Orochimaru and helped capture his accomplices. Naruto is a hero!"

The Sandaime approached Naruto. "Thank you..." he began to say when Naruto fell over.

The bronze-blonde felt really weak.

_What's going on?_

_**Your body is tired, Naruto. It needs to rest. Plus, you need to recharge your mana, chakra, ki, and chi. Just rest.**_

_Ah. I overdid it._

And sleep took the container for Lavos into the realm of dreams.

* * *

End Chapter Two. 

Next chapter: "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Why can't someone else be the Godaime!?"  
"Well, there _are_ two other people..."

Author's Notes

Three huge fights. In the same bloody chapter. I hope you're happy, you cretins!

Yeah, Naruto healed Neji. I doubt Naruto hated him anymore. In canon, when Naruto next meets Neji, they are on cordial, if not friendly, terms.

Shukaku is afraid of Lavos. Makes sense, don't you think?

The shampoo thing was just too funny in canon. I decided to recycle it.

Yeah, Naruto stopped the tanuki with a single attack. Can you say "overpowered"? I knew you could do it!

Orochimaru is dead and his Sound Four have been captured. What about Kabuto? You'll have to wait and see!

Thank you Cylon One for being a prereader!

Naruto's Spellbook:

Kaiten  
An attack that was once exclusive to the Hyuga Clan before Naruto stole it from Neji. The user spins in place shooting chakra out in all directions.

Cure  
A healing spell. Uses mana. 'Nuff said.

Chidori  
An assassination jutsu. A knife-hand jab covered with lightning. Sounds like 1000 birds chirping. Useless if your momentum is halted or redirected. Uses lots of chakra. Stolen from Sasuke who learned it from Kakashi, the jutsu's creator.

Fire  
A simple but powerful fire spell.

Grand Stone  
Summons a gigantic indestructible rock to be used as a bludgeoning object. Physical attack that requires an immense amount of mana to keep the Grand Stone in the physical realm.

Slash  
A simple technique using ki to create a vacuum in the air to cut apart enemies and objects in a straight line. Requires a blade.

Triple Kick  
A powerful but simple technique using an enormous amount of ki to hit an opponent three times in the same spot within a fraction of a second with an incredible amount of force.

Defense Seal  
A powerful spell that removes all resistances to energies, all tolerance for pain, and causes the target to bruise like a banana.


	3. Godaime Hokage?

Tokikage

by Lord Dragon Claw

Disclaimer: Even with all the illogical canonical advantages that the Sharingan gives the user, the Rabosugan is _still_ superior.

Chapter Three: Godaime Hokage?

* * *

As the ANBU cleaned up from the battle earlier that evening, three dealing with Orochimaru's body began to incinerate it with several Katon jutsu. They chose fire because it was the best way to destroy a body and, as a law, all the roofs in Konoha had to be built with fire-proof tiles. Unfortunately, they missed a small white snake slip out of the corpse's mouth and through one of the many cracks in the roof.

* * *

For the sixth time the next morning, what sounded like a fifty-year-old ninja screaming the phrase "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" came from within the Hokage Tower. To be more specific, it was within the Hokage's office.

The only people in said office were the Hokage and Jiraiya. And two full squads of ANBU. The Sandaime was a little annoyed that he had to constantly have an honor guard of eight shadows, but if it made his ninja forces feel better knowing that eight of their elites were protecting him... then he'd let them rather than ditching his tails like everyone knew he could.

Jiraiya was red in the face. Obviously, he objected to Sarutobi Hiruzen's proposal.

"Look, it would be an honor to even be considered for the position," said the older of the two men.

"I still refuse," responded the admitted super pervert. "If I take the job, my information network would fall apart without me. Plus, I'd have less time for my research."

The three female ANBU in the room sent the Toad Hermit death glares, but the old ninja ignored them easily.

"Isn't there someone else whom you could appoint?" asked Jiraiya.

"Well... there are two other candidates. Naruto is just plain stronger than everyone else I've ever met, despite being so young. He'd be a difficult person to kill, and he's always wanted to be the Hokage. Unfortunately, he _is_ young. Experience is probably the only thing that holds him back from being a Chuunin; and if he doesn't have the experience to be a Chuunin, then he definitely can't be Hokage."

"And the other?"

"Your only living teammate."

"Ah. Tsunade-hime."

* * *

In a casino along the coast of Wind Country, a blonde bombshell sneezed. Suddenly, the slot machine she was at dispensed about half a million ryou.

Her brunette companion was ecstatic, but the blonde was worried. She never had luck this big. Better just collect her winnings and skip town then.

* * *

Naruto groaned. His head hurt something fierce.

_Why does my head-OW! Sensitive to light! Keeping eyelids shut!_

_**You do know that you can see while your eyes are closed, right?**_

_Yeah. Opened them out of habit. So why does everything, my head in particular, hurt?_

_**This is what a hangover feels like, I suppose. Your head hurts and you have sensitivity to light because you are suffering from mana depletion sickness. Your body aches due to the fact that it is still recovering from having almost no ki, chi, or chakra.**_

_... That was definitely too many flashy attacks._

_**There was nothing for it. You had to do what you did. Fortunately, I think we can fix your energy waste with additional control training.**_

_Perfect! _Naruto was being sarcastic. _I don't get any time to relax a bit, do I?_

_**I **__**never**__** really did either, so stop complaining!**_

_Damn parasite!_

_**Stupid monkey!**_

* * *

"I think I should take Naruto with me to go find Tsunade."

"Oh? And why would that be?"

"When Orochimaru first ran off, he joined a little club, which I have been tracking for years. A club made entirely out of S-Class Nukenins."

"I... see."

"I'm afraid you don't. These guys are probably powerful enough to fight against Bijuu and keep going. With Naruto being practically untrained, I think I should take him along with me."

"Hmm... Granted. When do you think you can leave?"

"Tomorrow at the earliest. I don't think Naruto will be able to move much on his own until then due to the extensive chakra exhaustion as a result of fighting three battles, back-to-back-to-back."

* * *

_Kuso... still can't move!_

_**If it was simple chakra exhaustion, you'd be able to move by now.**_

_I know. Any way I can speed up this process?_

_**Not as far as I know.**_

Naruto sighed. Lying in bed was boring. He'd rather be training. Or eating ramen.

* * *

Ibiki was going to have fun! They had finally managed to separate Sakon and Ukon, so now the five Otonin were going to be questioned. He was especially looking forward to interrogating Kidomaru, the man with the six hands - he had three times as many fingers to break!

They'd have to be creative with the fat one though. Most types of pain probably wouldn't get to him. If all else failed they could bring in an Akimichi to break some bones.

The girl should be easy, however. Most kunoichi were. You didn't actually have to do anything to them in most cases, just threaten to and drop your pants - simple and effective. If that didn't work, Ibiki had other methods which were not sex-based in any fashion.

* * *

Sakura was dumbfounded. Naruto saved them? Naruto? The class clown? The dead last? She supposed that he had gotten a little stronger. Well, okay. A lot stronger. But that was the problem, though, wasn't it? She always ignored him unless he asked her out on a date.

Surely one month wasn't enough time to change that drastically. Where had he learned all of those odd jutsu, anyway?

_And the Rabosugan..._ She shuddered. That bloodline was extremely creepy in appearance. Where had it come from? Was Naruto descended from a Hyuuga and an Uchiha? Or was there more to it?

* * *

Sasuke was pissed. How dare the dobe surpass him!? Naruto was a nobody! Sasuke was the heir to the noble Uchiha Clan!

Sasuke was determined to train to defeat Naruto, and then move back to beating Itachi.

* * *

Naruto finally had enough energy to sit up. Without opening his eyes, he hit the "call nurse" button on the headboard to his hospital bed. Two medic-nins rushed in immediately.

"Naruto! What's wrong!?" asked the male medic-nin, actually concerned for the fox-brat for the first time in his life.

"What... does it take... to get some food 'round here!?" gasped Naruto. He then began to fall backwards but the female medic-nin caught him.

The female medic-nin took a look at the nutrient IV next to Naruto's bed. It was empty! But they had just placed that in fifteen minutes ago! It was supposed to last a full hour!

The male medic-nin called over the speaker system: "We need a nutrient IV to room A42! Stat!"

"Make sure... they bring me real... food too!"

The male medic-nin sweatdropped, but called in the food as well.

* * *

The Hokage had been alerted of Naruto's status, and he and Jiraiya rushed over to Konoha Military Hospital. What they found was Naruto practically INHALING whole platters of food, with medic-nins changing his nutrient IVs every ten minutes. Both older mens' jaws were slackened. The Hokage's was unhinged, even.

Suddenly, Naruto stopped eating. He pushed the bed table away, despite it still brimming with food.

"Sorry for worrying everyone!" he blurted out. "My body just needed to restore some of its chakra. Um... though only a quarter of my chakra has been restored, that should be enough to return my metabolism to normal. Thank you all, and sorry for the trouble."

"No problem!" one of the medic-nins said, surprising both the Sannin and Sandaime. "The last person to eat so much at our hospital after a battle was the Yondaime Hokage!"

Jiraiya and Sarutobi Hiruzen shared a look. Well, it did make sense considering who the boy's father was and who the boy's tenant was.

Then the two older men realized that Naruto hadn't opened his eyes since they got there.

"Naruto," began the Sandaime. "How are you able to see?"

"My bloodline works whether I have my eyes open or closed and whether I'm asleep or awake. My eyes just happen to be a little sensitive to light at the moment, probably due to the side-effects of chakra exhaustion, so I'm keeping them closed."

Hiruzen turned to Jiraiya. "Exactly how much _did_ you teach him?"

* * *

The next day saw the bronze-blonde leaving with the Legendary Super Pervert through the west gate. At about the same time, a pair of cloaked men entered Konoha from the east gate.

* * *

"So, where are we going?" asked Naruto, putting a pair of shades over his eyes to disguise them.

"To find Tsunade and convince her to come back to Konoha and become the next Hokage," replied the fifty-year-old man. "Our first stop is Otafuku Gai."

"I'm surprised he didn't pick me after I showed off quite a bit during the invasion."

"Actually, you were his first choice."

Naruto's eyes went wide while he stopped where he stood. Jiraiya turned around.

"Unfortunately, or fortunately (depends on your point of view), you don't have enough experience. You didn't have enough experience to become a Chuunin, so you definitely can't become Hokage yet."

"Why do you say 'fortunately'?" asked Naruto as they continued walking.

"Well, it's like I said, 'depends on your point of view'. If you had become Hokage, I wouldn't be able to train you. Also, you'd be stuck doing a lot of paperwork, which Sarutobi-sensei hates to do."

"I don't see why he doesn't just use a Kagebunshin to do the work while he reads those books you write."

"Wait... he reads them?"

"Yeah. Like Kakashi-sensei, the Old Man carries a copy of the latest Icha Icha book around at all times."

"Hmm... Well, since you seem to notice this sort of stuff... Maybe I should give you a copy?"

"No thanks. Already read the whole thing."

"Wait... How?"

"Bloodline. I can see the insides of any book in my vision range and I immediately memorize everything in it. Basically, I've read the entire library at Konoha as well. Only the books and scrolls that are shielded against the Hyugas' prying eyes are closed to me. My mind stores the information for later use, but I have to sift through it to find what I want to know. It's like remembering something you forgot about that you learned when you were six."

"It also seems to cause you to go into spontaneous explanation."

"Shut up."

"So... What do you think of my work?"

"Remember that I called you a pervert?"

"Yeah."

"My opinion still hasn't changed."

"I don't care what you think of me! What do you think of my books!"

"Pure smut. Well-written smut, but smut nonetheless."

"You have no respect for art, you know that?"

* * *

"Well, this is an interesting town. Looking for intel on Tsunade here?"

"Definitely. I'll go and..."

"Do what you will. I'm going to train while simultaneously tracking your progress."

"Wait... what!? I'm going to be doing some perverted things while I gather intell..."

"I suppose you don't know. I can't turn off my eyes and I can see the entire town with them. I'll be able to see what you're doing no matter where you are and I have no choice in the matter."

"Hmm... Well, here's the hotel key. Go ahead and get the room ready for us and do some training."

"Certainly."

* * *

"We'll have to have that genjutsu'd woman distract Jiraiya anyway, huh?"

"Definitely."

* * *

Naruto was unpacking his pack when Lavos alerted him to the presence of two powerful ninja nearby. Naruto could see them walking down the hallway to get to the room where Naruto was at. One of them looked just like Sasuke, except taller. The other one looked as though his mother was a shark or something. He also had a large sword wrapped in bandaging. Naruto focused his eyes a bit and saw things on the spiritual plane. The sword had a spirit of its own!

Well, there were definitely three opponents then. Naruto opened a gate and threw his stuff and Jiraiya's pack into it before closing the gate. He then turned to the door and opened it when the Uchiha knocked on it, planning on seeing if the conflict could be resolved through talking. If not, then he might as well play up his "moron" card a bit to put the shinobi off-guard.

"Can I help you?" asked the bronze-blonde politely.

"Naruto-kun," began the dark-haired man. "It would be best if you came with us."

"And why should I go with a man who looks like an older version of Sasuke-teme?"

"We don't actually need you. Just the beast inside you."

"Yeah," said the shark person. "We'll get rid of that fox for you. Just think of it as... a favor!"

"Fox?" asked Naruto, making himself sound very confused. "You mean the Kyubi? That idiot died when I was born, I'm sad to say. Sorry that you have wasted your time looking for me. Well, I'd better continue unpacking, so I'll talk to you two later. Bye!"

With that, Naruto slammed the door and created a gate immediately behind him. He jumped backwards into the portal and it closed up, depositing him onto the roof of the building. He arrived just in time to see the shark man kick down the door. The Uchiha began to look around, and he absentmindedly put his hands together and said the word "kai" to release any genjutsu. Nothing.

_I was sure they wouldn't buy it, despite it being the truth._

_**Yeah. Anyway, what are you planning?**_

_What, with them?_

_**No. The future. We should have a goal in mind.**_

_... could my traits, such as my eyes, be passed onto other people?_

_**There is a way to do that... Certain things can only be passed on via certain rituals. The one that would allow you to give your bloodline to someone else with no strings attached has the prerequisite of you needing to be married to said person.**_

_Oookaaaay... And my children?_

_**They'll definitely inherit your bloodline as I've made it a dominant trait.**_

_Nice. Wait, did that shark man just smash both the beds with his sword!? How old does he think I am!? Six?_

_**Anyway, planning on having a large family?**_

_Yes. Imagine an entire ninja village filled with miniature Lavos'..._

Lavos laughed. _**We should totally do that!**_

Then Naruto checked in on Jiraiya. It seemed that he was breaking a genjutsu that had been placed on some woman. Well, the woman was really hot, so it stood to reason that Jiraiya would be with her. But a genjutsu? Probably just to keep the old pervert busy while the two enemy ninja kidnapped the supposed container for the nine-tailed Bijuu.

But the container for Lavos was curious as to who was calling the shots for the two enemy ninja... Better capture them, if possible.

* * *

Itachi was worried. No trace of their quarry was found in the room. He wasn't in any of the hiding places, and closer inspection revealed that the window had not been opened recently, so he couldn't have gotten out that way.

They needed to hurry and capture the Jinchuuriki before Jiraiya returned, but where was that brat!?

Kisame was also worried; Itachi had already used one of his powerful eye jutsu that day, and his chakra had dropped by about a third, maybe less. Also, if it came down to it, the shark-like swordsman was sure that Jiraiya could whoop both Itachi and him in a fight. They needed to find their prey, and fast!

Wait! There he was!

Naruto was standing in the doorway, fiddling with a kunai, wearing a bored look on his face.

"I told you the fox was dead. But no one listens to the supposed 'Kyubi brat'."

Itachi rushed forward to attack but the bronze-blonde swept the kunai in front of him. A vacuum blade shot from its tip, forcing the Uchiha to dodge. Kisame also had to move as the attack continued along its course.

The black-haired man managed to get close enough to the boy to grab him. The bronze-blonde simply smirked, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. In the shadow clone's place was an explosive tag.

Itachi leapt back, out into the hallway, barely in time to avoid the explosion while Kisame simply weathered it. Suddenly, the swordsman had to dodge to the side as another bronze-blonde attempted to take his head off with another kunai. Kisame hit the boy with the pommel of his sword. POOF! Another shadow clone. The former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist had to duck down as a jet of flame threatened to consume his head.

In the hall, Itachi wasn't faring much better. As soon as he avoided the explosion, he had to twist around to avoid another of the bronze-blonde's kunais going straight for one of his kidneys. He elbowed the boy in the head. As he expected, it was another shadow clone. No explosive tag that time though. Before he could do anything else, he had to throw himself to the floor to avoid a large golden crescent-shaped blade as it spun through the air. He immediately stood up to see where it had come from when he had to hit the deck yet again to avoid the same blade as it returned along its previous course. He turned his head to see another bronze-blonde catch the blade and attempt to throw it again. A quick shuriken to the chest caused the boy to disappear in a burst of smoke. The blade disappeared with him. Itachi had to roll out of the way as another bronze-blonde tried to smash his head with an ice-encased fist. Itachi had to quickly push himself away as the floor nearby froze over. The boy could use the Hyoton bloodline!?

Naruto pulled his fist out of the spreading ice. Then he turned to Itachi.

"Seems we have a visitor," mentioned the bronze-blonde, even as another explosion went off in the hotel room where Kisame was.

Sasuke rounded the corner to see Naruto facing off against his brother.

"Naruto!" he yelled. "Out of the way! He's MINE! CHIDORI!"

The crackling electricity encompassed Sasuke's hand, but quickly died down as Itachi grasped his younger brother by the neck and slammed him into the wall.

"You're not strong enough to fight me, little brother," said the older Uchiha. "You want to know why? You don't have enough hate. Tsukuyomi."

Sasuke was caught in the genjutsu, where it forced him to relive the horrors of the Uchiha Massacre over and over again. When Itachi released his younger brother's body, he slumped down into a pile against the wall, nearly comatose.

"Where were we?" asked Itachi, as he turned to Naruto, preparing to attack the boy.

Suddenly, Kisame's sword was visible through the scorched doorway. Another pop signified that the swordsman had dispelled yet another shadow clone. Kisame walked out of the room to see that yet another bronze-blonde was within the range of his sword. He swung it low, to either dispel the clone or remove the boy's legs.

POOF!

"SHIT!" cursed the shark man, obviously frustrated.

"Such language," said a condescending voice behind Itachi. Both nukenin spun around to see yet another Naruto. "Saying that word in the presence of a child." The bronze-blonde shook his head. "You should be ashamed!" The sarcasm was practically dripping from the tone of voice the boy used.

Just when either of the missing ninja were about to attack the young Uzumaki, another voice was heard.

"Kuchiyose: Gamakuchi Shibari!" (Summoning: Toad Mouth Trap)

The hallway turned into a flesh-like substance. Itachi and Kisame turned to see Jiraiya with his right hand on the floor, the woman who was under a genjutsu slung over his left shoulder, moving as much as a sack of potatoes (and probably about as aware).

"Caught you," stated Naruto.

"Kisame," said Itachi. "Follow my lead."

The two nukenin ran down the hallway, making a right turn after getting their feet unstuck from the floor. As they passed Naruto, Itachi stabbed him with a kunai, causing the boy to pop into a puff of smoke. Jiraiya put more chakra into his jutsu, extending the trap along the hallway faster than the two criminals could run.

Suddenly, there was an explosion. Jiraiya ran down the hall to find a hole in the flesh trap as well as the wall. Black flames burned around the hole.

"Those flames came from his eyes," Naruto said as he stepped out of a gate near Jiraiya, causing the old pervert to jump.

"GAH! Don't do that!" After composing himself, the older man continued talking while getting out a scroll and writing down some seals. "Good use of Kagebunshin though. I think they were after-"

"Me, right? Actually, they were after the fox, but that demon's been dead for quite some time now."

"You mean you don't know!?" Jiraiya was so stunned he stopped writing. "The fox was sealed into you!"

"No, it wasn't. What was sealed within me was that which killed the Kyubi, simply because it was going to destroy Konoha next."

"Oh. What is it?"

"A being called Lavos. It is a creature capable of destroying worlds. Ours was next."

"Wow. Well, I'm glad that it got sealed into you then." The old pervert finished his seals and made a hand seal. The black flames were drawn into the scroll, into the kanji for fire.

"So am I."

"So, let's take a look at Sasuke then."

"I don't think he's going to wake up for a while. That was a powerful genjutsu. Also, I wasn't able to copy it."

"Hmm..."

"Oh, you should probably duck."

"What?"

BAM! The old pervert got kicked in the head by a green blur.

"Guy-san, why did you hit the Ero-Sennin in the head?"

"Huh!? OH HOW UNYOUTHFUL OF ME!!"

"Damn it, Guy! That hurt!"

"I'M SO SORRY!! You see, I forgot my mirror so that I could peek around the corner, so I used my forehead protector. I saw a larger figure with two smaller ones so I figured you were Uchiha Itachi or Hoshigaki Kisame and that the other two were Sasuke and Naruto and-"

"Guy-san!" yelled Naruto. "Stop babbling! We need you to take Sasuke back to the village hospital, so get moving!"

* * *

"You're not going to wear that spandex suit, are you?"

"Of course not." Naruto then opened a gate and dropped the suit into it. Then he closed that gate and opened another which spat out their packs.

"... Why don't you keep the packs stored in that jutsu?"

"Because my body still needs physical conditioning and I'm not going to be your pack mule. So, where to next?"

"We're heading to Crater City. I've got a lead that points to there."

"That was fast."

"About the fight..."

"I still have about forty-three percent of my energy left; I started with only about seventy."

"Wow."

"And that was after I reabsorbed my eight leftover shadow clones."

"Where was the real you?"

"On the roof. If you hadn't intervened, I would've lost. I'm not fast enough or strong enough to be able to beat them. I simply attacked them from a distance."

"A very good strategy. Well, I suppose I could help you train."

* * *

End Chapter Three.

Next chapter: "Yet another jutsu I can't just copy."  
"But the fun is in learning the jutsu! Besides, I think I've located her; my sources point to Tanzaku Gai."

Author's Notes

After learning more of what Orochimaru is, I decided to pull a deus ex machina of sorts and keep the Roach alive. So, the snake was playing possum in his own corpse until the last possible moment.

Sorry if the beginning of the chapter jumps around a bit. I had to figure out what I wanted to do with it.

Yes. Naruto practically has no sex drive whatsoever. In any case, it's going to take something other than naked flesh to make the poor bronze-blonde aroused.

Plans for the future... a little fore-shadowing there.

I hope I'm getting better in writing my fight scenes.

And yeah, Naruto needs to train in taijutsu. Speed, power, technique; time is what he needs, and time is what he has in spades now.

Thanks to Vassago-Toxicity for beta'ing!

And for those of you who asked when I was going to update this story... I TOLD YOU IT'D BE BEFORE FEBRUARY! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!  
Ahem.  
Sorry.

Naruto's Spellbook:

Crescent  
Using mana, Naruto summons a golden blade shaped like the crescent moon, which he can then hurl at enemies. If the blade misses, it returns to Naruto following the same path it had made in the first place. If it misses again, Naruto is able to throw it again. If it hits the target, it causes a deep wound that is difficult to heal or regenerate from prior to disappearing to wherever it had been summoned from. Can be blocked by armor or weaponry, causing it to return to the place from whence it came.

Ice Fist  
Using his mana, Naruto encases his fist or a weapon in ice and attacks with it. Upon impact, the ice freezes what it comes into contact with, causing additional damage. Based off of an attack known as Ice Sword.


	4. A New Contract

Tokikage

by Lord Dragon Claw

Disclaimer: Water summons wind. Wind makes fire dance.

Chapter Four: A "New" Contract

* * *

"Well, here's Crater City."

"Appropriately named, I think."

As the two Konohanin gazed out at the city built inside of a huge crater, Naruto noticed something interesting.

"A lively party town, I see."

"Yeah, they hold festivals all year round."

"What makes them celebrate so much?"

"Well, most of the people in it are richer than most, and they feel extremely safe with Konoha being only three days away."

"A false sense of security?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Was that three days in ninja travel?"

"That it is."

"I'm sorry to say this, but I think this is a town of idiots."

"Pretty much. You'll find that most people are fairly stupid anyway."

Naruto grunted as though he had already figured it out for himself.

* * *

"So," began the old man. "I need to snoop around in a few bars to find a lead on our target as it's possible she's moved on already. I want you to relax out here and maybe practice on reading lips or something to help with your own intelligence gathering skills. But, have fun too! A ninja's life is too short to be serious all the time."

"Certainly."

* * *

Naruto was surprised at his luck - if he ever wanted to, he could become a professional gambler! All he did to win a jackpot at a small lottery was idly put down a fifty-ryou coin on an orange square - the rarest square on the board - and then the old lady turned the crank on a machine. It jumbled the marbles inside of it - only one out of five hundred was the orange one - before depositing one on a tray. Before the marble had left the small wooden machine Naruto already knew he had won the 500,000 ryou jackpot!

And he confused the old lady when she gave him the large sack of money about the size of his head. He simply seemed to stuff it in a pocket of his orange jacket and it disappeared. What really happened was that he stuffed it inside of a small Gate concealed by his jacket. He thanked the woman and went on his way, sampling various foods.

_I hate to admit it, but a lot of this stuff is so much better than ramen._

**_Plus you're getting a better price than you would have in Konoha._**

_I don't know... I think I'm being lauded as a hero for defeating another demon and saving the Hokage, not to mention killing Orochimaru._

**_Some of them will still hate you, you know._**

_Let them. Besides, I've got Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-teme, Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, Shikamaru-san, the Old Man, Jiraiya, Iruka-sensei, and the Ichiraku family as friends. They're more important than the respect of everybody to me now._

**_And you still want to make a _****_Hidden_****_ Village_****_ of your own, right?_**

_Yeah. Possibly in Wave. Small and fairly obscure. Also, it's close to Water Country, where we can provide a safe haven for bloodline refugees._

**_More bloodlines than just your own?_**

_Mine might be superior, but it's the reputation that matters. Plus, with the now freed shipping lanes, we'll have access to Sea, River, and Wind as well as a pathway to Fire. If I can convince old Tazuna to be Daimyo, we'll probably have more than enough money to build a __Hidden__ Village__ in a year._

**_And how are you going to hide it?_**

_You should be able to figure that out on your own._

**_... You little sneak! You're going to hide it in Time itself!_**

_Yup.__ No one will get in that we don't want in it, not to mention that it will be impossible to assault._

Lavos gave a roaring laugh inside his head - had the regular people been able to hear it, they would have incomprehensibly joined in, despite their fear of such a monstrosity. But since Naruto was the only one to hear it, a grin graced his features.

* * *

"Hey Jiraiya. Drunk again I see."

"Gaki!" said the white-haired man after a hiccup. He tried to sit up, but fell over instead.

"Careful there. I thought you'd need some food to counteract the alcohol, so I brought a fried squid on a stick."

As Naruto tried to hand it to him, Jiraiya's hold on his chakra slipped as he belched. It caused a small blast of air to come out of his mouth, knocking one of the squids from Naruto's grasp. It arched through the air and beaned some random customer in the head. Shaking his head, Naruto simply helped the older man to a sitting position on the floor.

"Hey!" called the customer who was holding the squid. Naruto and Jiraiya looked at him. "You hit my boss in the head!"

He pointed to another man behind him, one who carried himself like a ninja. He also had a katana at his waist.

"And?" asked Jiraiya, who was quickly sobering up due to directing chakra to his liver and intestines.

"You should be more careful," stated the sword-wielding man, hand on his katana's hilt.

"Yeah! My boss is a powerful Chuunin-level ninja formerly from Konoha! He'll slaughter you both if you don't apologize!"

Naruto and Jiraiya locked eyes for a second, and then threw their heads back and laughed. Their laughter stopped as they heard the man draw his sword, the other patrons at the bar quickly finding cover.

"Naruto," murmured Jiraiya. "I'm going to show you a jutsu that I'll teach you. It's more powerful than that Chidori your sensei invented."

The bronze-blonde watched, but put his free hand near his kunai pouch as the old man stood up, all the alcohol purged from his body. Jiraiya simply cupped his hand and directed chakra to it. Since it had no hand seals and the chakra flow wasn't structured like most jutsu, Naruto couldn't copy it, but he still tried to memorize what Jiraiya did. Soon, a spiraling sphere of pure chakra had formed in Jiraiya's hand. Faster than most people could track, the old man shot forward and slammed the ball into his opponent's stomach. With a burst of compressed air and a loud crack, the man left the building, spinning and tumbling in mid-air before collapsing bonelessly against the building across the street. His "friend" ran from the building immediately afterwards.

"That," started the toad hermit, "was the Yondaime's Rasengan."

"Cool," replied Naruto. Noticing that the man had dropped his sword, the bronze-blonde picked it up and stored it in a Gate in his pocket.

"I never thought you were one for stealing things," said the older ninja disapprovingly.

"Is it really stealing if the previous owner is dead?"

Jiraiya looked out the doorway where the nukenin had flown through to see the man's neck bent at an unnatural angle... not to mention it looked like his heart and stomach had traded places with his kidneys.

"Aw shit! I killed him!"

The bartender, upon hearing this, leapt up and thanked Jiraiya. The old man gave him a very intelligent response.

"Huh?"

"Seriously, that guy was the head of the local yakuza gang! You've helped us out!"

"Huh?"

"Jiraiya, you do realize you ended up in a bar in the slums, right?" asked the shorter ninja.

"Heh... I must have been more drunk than I thought."

"Well," began the bartender. "Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"Yeah," replied Naruto before reaching into one of Jiraiya's pockets.

"HEY!"

Naruto pulled out the photograph of Tsunade and handed it to the bartender.

"We're searching for this woman to ask her a few questions. Not to worry - we won't harm her even if she's not cooperative. She may look a little older or younger than that picture. She's also known as the Legendary Sucker, due to her bad luck at gambling."

"Actually, I did hear of her. My best friend who runs a casino in the Main Square said she was headed for Tanzaku Gai to visit their casinos."

"Thank you sir," said Naruto, taking the picture back and handing it to Jiraiya. "Before we go, I want to apologize for the mess we've caused."

To the surprise of the barkeeper and Jiraiya, Naruto pulled a large sack of money out of his pocket and placed it on the bar.

"Use that for whatever you want, but since it is a half-million, you may want to just buy a bar in a better part of town or something. Your landlord is trying to cheat you out of money, by the way."

"Uh... thank you."

"Seriously, don't mention it. If anyone asks, two Konoha ANBU took care of the crime lord."

"Hai!"

* * *

"Konoha ANBU?"

"I figure Konoha's reputation will grow from this, to counteract the rumors of the invasion."

"That it would. You could be a real spymaster, you know. How did you know about that guy's landlord?"

"The landlord lived in a house a block away. I could see from his documents that he's been cheating that bartender out of money."

"Where did you get that sack of money from, anyway?"

"I put fifty ryou on the line at a lottery. I won five-hundred-thousand."

"Holy shit!"

"So, Jiraiya," began Naruto.

"What's up?"

"I couldn't copy the Rasengan."

"Well, part of the fun is learning to use it. It requires a huge amount of chakra to start up, but takes no chakra to keep it going. You, my boy, have chakra in spades!"

"And it can't be copied? Only learned?"

"Well, you got to understand that the Yondaime was suspicious of the Uchiha Clan. Most of his jutsu that he created could not be copied by them or anybody else."

"Nice. When are we going to start?"

"Soon. First, I want to know what you're going to use that sword for."

"Actually, I was going to give it to you so you could train me."

"In kenjutsu? Why?"

"Remember the Kusanagi?"

"Yeah... You stole it from Orochimaru, didn't you?"

"Yup." To this Jiraiya smiled.

"Hmm... well, first of all, you definitely need training in control."

"My tenant said as much. What do you suggest?"

"More tree walking, except you use your hands instead of your feet. You can accomplish this with shadow clones while I teach you the Rasengan. Once you become proficient with walking with your hands up the trees, you do the original exercise while trying to keep a leaf floating exactly five centimeters above each of your hands, and one above your nose. Do that with shadow clones as well. The rest of your training will consist of learning the Rasengan and kenjutsu sparring."

"Sounds like work, but it'll be worth it. Won't your research suffer?"

"Yeah, but I can keep my readers waiting. Akatsuki and Tsunade won't wait though."

"Akatsuki were those guys who tried to kidnap me, right?"

"You catch on quick."

* * *

Naruto spent some time struggling with the first stage of the Rasengan, when he realized that he needed to swirl the water in _every_ direction, not just one or two. Several balloon bursts later, they spent two hours going over basic kenjutsu forms of two of Konoha's most famous styles - the Crane and Heron styles. Neither felt right for Naruto so they concentrated on the second stage of the Rasengan again - not just because he was learning it quicker but because he could learn it while he walked. They left an almost continuous string of Kagebunshins behind to climb the nearby trees.

* * *

"Tanzaku Gai," announced Jiraiya after using the Shunshin (Body Flicker) to cover the remaining day's worth of distance to the mighty city (and using a large chunk of chakra to do so).

"This place is huge!" exclaimed Naruto. He tilted his head to the side. "I can't see the other side of it yet! It must be bigger than Konoha!"

The old man chuckled. "It is. Do you see the castle?"

"Yeah... It's beautiful... Hey. There are several people up there too. Ninja it looks like."

"Huh."

"Damn! One of them's Yakushi Kabuto! We need to hurry!"

Jiraiya easily kept up as they took to the roofs to cover distance faster and he asked Naruto to explain who Kabuto was while the bronze-blonde put the rubber ball he was training in the Rasengan with into a Gate.

"At first, I thought he was a friend and ally in the Chuunin Exams. Turns out, he's a spy for Orochimaru." Naruto paused as he changed direction slightly to avoid hitting a chimney. "The other four people are ninja as well. Two Oto, and two without hitai-ate."

"Describe the Otonin."

"One looks very sickly, but he's very strong. Muscular, pale face, with limp, white hair. Seems to have a bacterial infection in his lungs, but his chakra is mostly concentrated in his bone marrow. The other one is a dirty-blonde. Something seems familiar about him. His eyes... Oh Kami! His eyes!" Naruto exclaimed as he fell off of the roof.

"Naruto!" gasped the toad hermit. When he was about to go to Naruto, a Gate opened nearby, dropping the bronze-blonde on the roof next to him. "Naruto, what happened? What did you see?"

"His eyes... They were Orochimaru's eyes. Orochimaru lives! But... how? I shattered his ribs and turned his vital organs to mush!"

"Hmm... Perhaps his body-changing jutsu is more complex than I realized. What about the other two ninja?"

"One has a pet pig on the ground near her. She seems to be a medic, but she's got poisoned senbon hidden on various places of her person, including under her tongue. She's a brunette as well."

"And the other?"

"The other... a blonde bombshell under heavy genjutsu to disguise... her age... Holy crap it's Tsunade!"

"Shit!" grumbled Jiraiya, sprinting in the direction of the castle, Naruto closely following.

"Jiraiya, they're fighting!" yelled the young ninja just before a huge cloud of dust suddenly exploded from one of the castle's walls.

"I can see that!"

"Jiraiya, wait!"

"What is it, gaki?" asked the Sannin as he stopped.

"Two things," began the young man. "First of all, our 'friends' from Otafuku Gai seem to have caught up to us - and they brought company. They're on the other side of town and I just noticed them."

"Damn!"

"Second... Does Tsunade have hemophobia?"

"The fear of blood? Yeah, she does. Why?"

"Orochimaru bit his finger and let the blood flow freely. Tsunade seemed freaked out. The snake man said a few things, and he and his lackeys left. The brunette and Tsunade left through a hole in the wall that the Slug Princess made and are headed to a bar."

"Could you read his lips?"

"Not perfectly. I'm still learning, but he said something about a boy and some guy named Dan. Does that name ring a bell?"

"Yeah. Dan was Tsunade's fiance before he died in battle."

"Oh. Blackmail... not an original trick, but effective. Tsunade's at a bar now. Should we follow? Orochimaru and his lackeys have left my visual range."

"What about our 'friends'?"

"Kisame and one of the new guys, a blonde with one eye, are investigating the scene of the fight. The other new guy looks like a puppet... inside of another puppet. His heart and brain are inside of a cylinder in the smaller puppet's chest."

"Sounds familiar. What hitai-ate do they have?"

"The blonde has one for Iwa, but it has a scratch through it. The other has a Suna hitai-ate, also similarly scratched."

"Shit! Deidara of Iwa and Akasuna no Sasori! Shit shit shit shit!"

"We're going to have problems, won't we?"

"Yeah. We'll need to lay low for now. Hopefully Tsunade doesn't do anything rash. Now, which bar is Tsunade at?"

* * *

"Well, if it isn't the Slug Princess? Mind if we sit with you?"

"Jiraiya and some Konoha brat, eh? Fine."

Jiraiya sat next to Tsunade, while Naruto sat near the other kunoichi.

"You saw Orochimaru today, didn't you?"

Tsunade almost dropped her sake bottle.

"How-?"

"Did I know? That hole in the wall up at Tanzaku castle smells a lot like snake, or so the gaki told me."

"What, is he an Inuzuka?" asked the blonde woman.

"No, but he was trained by Copy Kakashi."

"Figures."

Meanwhile, Naruto was talking with the other woman.

"So her name's Tonton, eh?"

"That's right," smiled the kunoichi. "And I'm Shizune."

"I never really had a pet. In fact, I had few friends up until recently. After Sound and Sand tried to invade Konoha... well, we lost many ninja but I gained many friends. At least, people started being friendlier to me."

"Why weren't they nice to you before?"

"Something my father must have done. I don't know the whole story, but it's probably as irrational as their fear of this kid named Uzumaki Naruto."

Though Naruto wasn't looking at her, he had to restrain himself from smirking at how she recognized the name.

"Oh... uh, what's your name?"

"Huh? I forgot to introduce myself again? Drat! Well, you can call me Toki. Yeah, I know it means time. My dad might not have been the sharpest kunai in the pouch."

"Do you still see your dad?"

"Nope. He and my mom died in the Kyubi attack."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't be. I don't like being pitied or looked down upon."

"So, did anybody raise you?"

"Well, off and on with Hokage-sama, the Ichiraku family, and Iruka-sensei, a Chuunin at the Academy."

"Nobody adopted you?"

"Nope. Don't know why either." Naruto looked at Shizune's arm as if curious. "Is that a senbon launcher?"

"Yes it is. How did you notice?"

"The folds of your clothing on that arm didn't look similar to the folds on your other arm. It's the little things that catch my attention most of the time."

**_Liar._**

_Shut up!_

Shizune rolled up her sleeve after setting Tonton down on the table to show Naruto the senbon launcher.

"Careful! They are poison-coated!"

"I kinda figured they would be. You're a medical kunoichi, aren't you?"

The brunette giggled a bit. "How could you tell?"

"Well, you have a lot of chakra - yeah, I can tell even with you masking it - and you seem to have a lot of knowledge about poisons. You were either a poison expert, a medic, or both. Since you travel with Tsunade-sama, I figured you'd at least be a medic, if nothing else."

"You're a smart kid."

"You should see Nara Shikamaru."

She giggled again. "Most of the Nara clan are excellent strategists."

Naruto smirked. "Shikamaru tops his father, I think."

"I don't doubt it."

On the other side of the table, Tsunade and Jiraiya continued to talk.

"Yeah, so we need you to return to Konoha."

"Nothing but bad memories there. Didn't Sensei die during that invasion?"

"Nope. Uzumaki Naruto saved his life by getting him out of Orochimaru's trap."

She snorted. "So he lived, but he won't live long. You've come to me to try and weasel me into the office of Hokage, haven't you?"

"Pretty much."

"I refuse. The office of Hokage is for fools!"

Naruto heard that on his side of the table, and he turned his head mid-sentence to glare at the Slug Princess. It was impressive that she realized he was glaring at her from behind his sunglasses considering how drunk she was.

"What? It's the truth. Nearly all who take that position or want it have died."

"So what if they have!?" asked Naruto angrily.

"Toki, calm down," admonished Jiraiya.

"Shut up, Jiraiya-sensei!"

"Oh, so you're teaching him? I suppose he wants to become Hokage as well, just like your last student!"

"I did, a long time ago, you wrinkled old lady!"

"What did you call me!? You gaki! ... Wait, you used to want to be Hokage?" Tsunade was confused. Why did the boy become so angry when she insulted the post of Hokage when he didn't even want the position himself?

"Yeah, I did. Now I'd rather be an ANBU captain or something like that. But if I was to be honored by being approached for the position, I'd at least give it some thought rather than refusing it outright!"

"Why do you care so much anyway?"

"Because the Sandaime is like family to me, and the Yondaime is my hero. And correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you the granddaughter of the Shodaime? Why would you insult his legacy?"

Tsunade looked away and crossed her arms under her chest.

"Feh. My kunoichi friends look up to you for your bravery and genius, but all I see is a cowardly, stupid old lady who drinks and gambles too much. Jiraiya, I'm going to practice my kenjutsu. Don't worry about me - I'll flare my chakra if our... 'friends' show up."

Jiraiya turned to see Tsunade's face was stained with tears. Before he could say anything, the Slug Princess spoke.

"Who were the 'friends' Toki spoke of?"

"Uchiha Itachi and some of his nukenin buddies."

Tsunade and Shizune gasped. Tonton jumped into Shizune's arms and tried to hide her face under the brunette's elbow.

"Where-?"

"They are hiding on the north side of the city. They're looking for Toki as they've mixed him up with Uzumaki Naruto. Not to worry though, the boy's a genius."

"Why are you so unconcerned about him?" asked Shizune worriedly.

"He can get out of any trap and can cover ground quite quickly. If he gets in trouble, he'll come straight to me after he flares his chakra. Unfortunately, the last time we met with Uchiha Itachi, he only had one friend with him. Now he's got three."

"Who are they?" asked Tsunade cautiously.

"Hoshigaki Kisame, Deidara of Iwa, and Akasuna no Sasori."

Tsunade's and Shizune's jaws practically dropped.

"Shizune! Go watch out for Toki! If nothing else, he could use a second set of eyes! Tonton's sense of smell will help you so take her too!"

"Hai Tsunade-sama!"

After Shizune had left the building, Jiraiya cast a curious gaze upon Tsunade.

"Why do you care about him so much?"

"He reminds me of Nawaki and Dan. I will not have another life on my conscience."

"So why aren't you going to look after him yourself?"

"We do have to pay the tab first, don't we?"

"Oh. Right."

* * *

"Oh Kami! Is that the Kusanagi!?"

Naruto turned his head and acted surprised that Shizune had followed him to one of the parks in Tanzaku Gai.

"Shizune-san? Why are you here?"

"To help keep a lookout against those nukenin."

"Well, thanks. And yeah, this is the Kusanagi. Orochimaru lost it to the Hokage when they fought. Hokage-sama then gave it to me as a gift."

"Aren't you a Genin?"

Naruto laughed as he paused in a kata for the Crane style. "I am. But I'm very gifted, just inexperienced. That's why only Shikamaru-san was promoted to Chuunin last month."

"Oh."

Naruto continued with his katas, even after Tsunade and Jiraiya showed up.

"He's learned the Crane style?"

"Not really. I got him started on it. It doesn't seem to suit him though, so we tried the Heron style next. That doesn't suit him either, but he's still going to practice their forms even once he learns a more appropriate style."

"What style are you going to teach him next? Fox? Toad? Tortoise? Monkey?"

"Tiger. Then Falcon."

"What else have you taught him?"

"The basics for the Yondaime's Rasengan. He's still on stage two of the learning process."

"Why would you teach him that?"

"He needs a powerful jutsu to build off of in case I fall to the hands of the nukenin that are after him."

"And he's signed your Toad Contract, I suppose."

"Yep. But I'm not sure the Toads are appropriate for him. I was going to teach him how to make a completely new contract with another summon creature, as there are a number of summons out there without contracts with anyone."

Tsunade stood there, deep in thought.

"Toki!" she called out. Naruto stopped his kata to answer her.

"What?"

"If you make a new contract with a different summon creature within a week, I'll come back to Konoha with you as Godaime Hokage! If not, you and Jiraiya will leave me alone forever!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, clearly thinking about it.

"If Jiraiya's okay with it, then I'll do it!"

Jiraiya nodded his ascent.

* * *

"First of all," began Jiraiya the next morning. "We need you to envision which animal you wish to summon."

Naruto's face scowled as he thought about it.

_Lavos, any suggestions?_

**_Two._****_ Reptites and Nus._**

_What are they?_

**_Reptites are like lizards and like people. They can be quite powerful, but they are very hot headed and cold-blooded. I'm not sure you'd get along with them. Nus, on the other hand, are also powerful, but not as much. Still, they can be clever, if empty-headed. They also love pranks. Also, there has been only one other summoner for them in your planet's history, whereas the reptites have had none._**

"I think I have one."

"Which is it?" asked Shizune.

"That," began Naruto, as both women and Jiraiya leaned in, "is a secret!"

All three adults fell over.

"Dammit Toki!" yelled Jiraiya. "How the hell am I supposed to help you if you won't let me know what it is!?"

"Just show me what I'm supposed to do. I'll figure it out on my own."

"Fine," acquiesced the Toad Hermit. "Study the Toad Contract and this book of sealing basics. Rather, have your shadow clones do it."

"He uses Kagebunshin?" asked Tsunade.

"Yup. Works much better for him than the regular Bunshin. He had horrible control when he exited the Academy and the Kagebunshin was a better fit than the Bunshin."

Naruto had four Kagebunshin look over the book and scroll.

"Now, I'll teach you the basics for the Tiger style of kenjutsu."

Naruto grinned.

* * *

When Naruto finally had some free time, and none of the three adults were watching him, he opened a Gate, out of which dropped a large, round blue thing. It had a tuft of green hair on top, as well as long, spindly arms and short, thin legs. Its head and torso were one and the same, and it had a large mouth, a couple simple nostrils with no nose, and a blank stare in its eyes. Strapped to its back was a large scroll.

"Temporal rift?" said the strange creature. "Nuuuuu. Human. Weird human."

"You're pretty weird yourself, friend," stated Naruto.

"Friend? Nuuuuu. You want to be friend?"

"Yeah, sure. I also want to sign the Summoning Contract."

"Contract? Sure. You sign Contract. After you get thing I want. Nuuuuu."

"What do you want?"

"Friend. And one other thing. Nuuuuu. You must guess."

**_Gate in a mop from your apartment._**

_What?_

**_Trust me, just do it._**

Naruto pointed to the right of the Nu. It turned around to see a mop on the ground. It walked over to the mop and picked it up and examined it. It then turned around again and shrugged.

"Found thing I want. You can sign Contract. Nuuuuu. Then summon Nu Master. Use lots chakra. Talk to Nu Master. Nu Master talk to Boss. Nuuuuu. Boss make all Nu obey you. We all friends then!"

"Thanks. Can I keep the Contract around?"

"Yes." The Nu then dropped the scroll on the ground, then spat up a quiver for arrows and put the mop in it. After that, it strapped the quiver to its back and dispelled itself, taking the mop with it.

Naruto bit his thumb and used the blood to sign his name.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu: Nu!"

A large amount of smoke later, and another Nu, slightly larger than the other, stood in front of Naruto. It was also a dark grey, almost black, and had a yellow tuft of hair rather than a green one.

"Nuuuuu. Ah, summoner. I am the Nu Master. Only the Boss is above me."

Naruto bowed at the waist.

"Nuuuuu, you embarrass me. Get up. That's better. Nuuuuu, it's been a very long time since we've had a summoner."

"Who was your last summoner, if you don't mind me asking?"

"What was his name...? Nuuuuu. It's been so long, I've forgotten. But... you humans might know him as the Sage of the Six Paths. Nuuuuu."

**_That's the ninja who invented chakra, Naruto._**

_Interesting._

"I have heard of him; I thought he was only a legend."

"Tee hee! He was real, Nuuuuu. Your name is..." The Nu Master looked down at the open Contract on the ground. "Naruto, I see."

"I also go by Toki."

"Time. Nuuuuu. Very appropriate name, Son of Lavos."

Naruto's jaw dropped.

"Tee hee! We Nus talk to Nus from other planets. We know all about Lavoses. Nuuuuu, we usually try to help kill them."

"Oh. You're not going to try to kill me, are you?"

"Nuuuuu, why would we do that? You saved this world from Lavos. That would be a horrible way to repay you."

Naruto visibly relaxed. "Could you have the Nus call me Toki when I summon them?"

"Sure thing, Nuuuuu. Just sign your name again. I'll hide your real name on the contract, just like the Sage's name is hidden too. Nuuuuu."

With that he touched the column where Naruto's name was, and it became a scrambled mess of lines, just like the other occupied space next to it. Naruto simply signed next to it with the kanji for time: Toki.

"Nuuuuu. I must go and talk to the Boss."

"What's the Boss's name?"

"Spekkio, Master of War. Nuuuuu, you may summon any Nu tomorrow. See you later!"

POOF. The Nu Master was gone.

* * *

Naruto continued to learn kenjutsu and pretended to work on the Summoning Contract.

"Toki, what the hell is a Nu?"

"Oh, saw the label, did you?"

"Yeah, what is it?" asked Jiraiya.

"Something really weird."

"... You can't summon fictional creatures!"

"Who says they're fictional? Are dragons fictional?"

"Well, no."

Naruto bit his thumb and summoned a small red toad.

"Wassup!? Name's Gamakichi."

"Hi Gamakichi. Would you like to explain to Jiraiya what a Nu is?"

"Only if you give me some candy."

"Deal." Naruto pulled a peppermint out of his pocket. "Will this do?"

"A mint? Sure thing." His tongue lashed out and snatched the candy, wrapper and all, and drew it into his mouth. He then spat out the empty wrapper. "Yum!"

"So, tell Jiraiya what a Nu is."

"Well, they're the friends of us toads. Most are blue and strange, but fun!"

"Why is it that I've never heard of them?" asked Jiraiya.

"They're secretive. But it seems this boy knows what he's doing; they claim he's gonna be their new summoner!"

"Thank you, Gamakichi," said Naruto. "You can go back now."

POOF!

"I'm impressed."

"You'll be even more impressed to learn that I cheated."

"What!?"

"Yeah, this is their original Contract scroll, not a new one. I simply used a Gate to bring the scrollbearer to me."

"And what about your training in seals?"

"I'm not slacking off in that. They are genuinely interesting."

"So are you going to Gate them in or are you going to summon them normally?"

"Normally, as it takes less energy."

"Your Gates take a lot of chakra!?"

"No, they take only a little chi to use, but I have a lot more chakra than I do chi. Using the normal summoning is a lot more efficient for me than using a Gate."

"Oh. What's chi?"

Jiraiya couldn't see it past Naruto's sunglasses, but he knew the boy had just rolled his eyes.

* * *

End Chapter Four.

Next chapter: Akatsuki, the Sannin, and the color pink.

Author's Notes

So, I've been playing _Chrono Trigger DS_ lately, and felt inspired by some of the new features (as well as the old) to write more to this story.

Before I forget, I want to thank Cylon One and Vassago-Toxicity for being my beta readers. Rock rock on!

Finally, the Kusanagi is back in the picture, but what's this? Orochimaru selected a new body? And he wants Tsunade to heal Kimimaro? Akatsuki are stepping up the power they will throw at Naruto; will his "new" Summoning Contract be enough? And will I go to Pun Hell for such bad puns in the title and AN?

Find out next time on FanFiction DOT Net!

Naruto's Spellbook:

Nu Summoning Contract  
Much like the Toad Summoning Contract, Naruto simply needs a bit of blood and a few hand seals to summon a Nu. Nus, despite being rather empty-headed, are strong and clever. They love pranks, and their strange logic causes them to be unpredictable in battle. Also, they love playing with frogs and toads and other amphibians.

Rasengan  
Using pure chakra manipulation, Naruto creates a sphere of chakra capable of drilling through just about any substance. (Not yet proficient.)


	5. Armor and Pink

Tokikage

by Lord Dragon Claw

Disclaimer: Don't judge a book by its cover.

Chapter Five: Armor and Pink

* * *

"Okay, Toki! Time to teach you the Tiger kenjutsu style."

"Glad to learn it."

Tsunade and Shizune watched as the bronze-blonde and the Toad Hermit went over the basics for the power-based Tiger Style.

"You know, Shizune, that boy reminds me of someone..."

"Me too. He reminds me of the late Namikaze-sama."

"The Yondaime? Huh. I was thinking more along the lines of my good friend Kushina. I wonder what had happened to her..."

"Yeah. Our spy network says she disappeared without a trace the morning after the Kyubi attack. I doubt she would have run off..."

"That begs for some investigation. We'll have to start our spies searching for her. Maybe I can get Jiraiya to help as well."

"I wonder..."

"Hmm?"

"What if Toki is not that boy's real name? What if he _is_ Konoha's Jinchuuriki?"

"Hrm... Well, if he is, then he probably has a good reason to go by the name of Toki. Last my spies heard, he was generally hated in Konoha - even a whipping boy at times."

"Do you want to confront him about it?"

"No. I think we should let him tell us if he wants to."

Meanwhile, Naruto had noticed the conversation that the two women were having. As he mimicked Jiraiya's motions to learn the forms for the Tiger Style, he began to whisper to the older man. Jiraiya's ears had been saturated with chakra to pick up additional sounds (Naruto mimicked that too - it was a good control exercise), so he easily heard the bronze-blonde.

"Hey, they're talking about me."

"Oh?" Jiraiya whispered back, knowing the boy would easily hear it, especially if he could pick up the women's muted conversation when the old man couldn't.

"Please don't show any reaction. Is the Yondaime my father?"

"Perceptive as always. You didn't know before?"

"No. The paperwork was probably sealed within a storage scroll or in a book with privacy seals on it. What happened to my mother?"

"She disappeared. No idea where she is if she's even alive. I've had my spy network looking for her, or at least her grave. No clues or traces as of yet."

"Have you given up hope?"

"Pretty much, but I kept at it out of duty to you."

"... Why to me?"

"I'm your godfather."

If Naruto was surprised, he didn't show it. Jiraiya was impressed, so he continued.

"So the women have figured you out, huh?"

"Kind of. They think I go by Toki because I want to escape the hatred of Konoha."

Jiraiya suppressed the urge to laugh. "B-but do you think they will be angry about our deception?"

"I doubt it. Truly, we decided I should be called 'Toki' and act similarly to her younger brother to see if her maternal instincts will make her compliant to come back to Konoha... it has worked. We just need to wait until the final day of the bet to be able to drag her back to Konoha... but it's in the bag."

"Hopefully, we'll be able to get back without drawing the attention of our 'friends' or Orochimaru."

"True."

* * *

Tazuna was becoming quite well-off. He was able to rebuild Tsunami's house so that it was much bigger, but it was still humbly decorated. The people of Wave were asking for him to replace their late daimyo (who was killed a month before Gatou's death), but Tazuna wasn't sure.

As he sat on the porch and sipped some sake (no more drinking out of the bottle - he was drinking for pleasure now, not because he was depressed), he saw a familiar shock of hair appear from over the hill. Tazuna pushed his spectacles further up his nose so that he could see that far out. Yup. Definitely the same brat who had helped to save their country, though it seemed he had either dyed his hair or it simply turned that color in the few months he hadn't seen the kid.

He certainly still wore that eyesore of a jumpsuit, but now he was sporting shades that covered his eyes completely. Huh. Weird.

Tazuna set down his sake saucer and waved at the young ninja. He was pleased when the boy waved back. Then, something struck him as odd... where were the kid's teammates? Did he come alone? Did his hypocritical Hidden Village ostracize him? Or was he on vacation?

Or was it a trick? Could someone have disguised themselves as the Hero of Wave in order to get close to him? Tazuna frowned at the thought. He put his hand in his pocket and gripped a kunai he had found at the bridge after the battle - he would go down fighting if it came to that.

Once the bronze-blonde had walked within ten meters of Tazuna, he stopped and cocked his head to the side.

"Becoming a bit paranoid there, you old drunk?"

"Naruto?"

"Yeah. It's me."

"Prove it."

Naruto smirked.

"Remember what I said at the bridge? That the hero always arrives just in the nick of time?"

Tazuna relaxed, smiling.

"Seems you've gotten smarter, gaki."

"Yeah. Seems you've gotten a bit paranoid. Why?"

"The remnants of the Gatou Syndicate have broken up into five different companies. They have been fairly elusive and keep hiring Kumo-nin or Kiri-nin as bodyguards. We could hire Konoha-nin to assassinate one or two of them, but not all five."

"I'll have to fix that then."

"But, aren't you with Konoha? How are you going to-"

"Tazuna, let me explain. First of all, do you remember my ability to make a bunch of copies of myself?"

"Yeah."

"I'm one of those. The real one is on the west side of Fire Country at the moment. But he sent me here to make a business deal with you. Now, I appreciate the fact that the people of Wave respect me, whereas a large portion of Konoha would rather see me dead. I want a change of residence."

"You want to live in Wave?"

"I want to protect it too. I was thinking of starting a new Hidden Village."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I've recently come into some really powerful skills, and I am improving myself a great deal. I even have some time-based jutsu. I was thinking of calling the new Village by the name of Toki. Tokigakure."

"Hidden in Time, eh? And your ninja will protect our small country?"

"Yes. As well as providing a haven for those like me, who are scorned and hated due to circumstances beyond their control."

"How many ninja are you bringing with you?"

"I don't know. Some, I think, will follow me because they know me. I will invite others who I feel deserve it. I may end up bringing some civilians too. We'll start off small, but our forces should grow quickly."

"Why would ninja from other countries respect you though? You weren't very strong when you left."

"True. But I have a bloodline - the first of its kind."

"What kind of bloodline is that?"

Naruto pulled his shades off of his face and opened his eyes. Tazuna gasped.

"A doujutsu: the Rabosugan." (Eye Technique; Lavos Eye)

* * *

It was amusing when Inari had leapt at his friend for a hug rather unexpectedly. The shadow clone let itself get hugged, but then Inari squeezed too hard and the clone dispelled.

Naruto felt the rush of information during his Falcon Style kenjutsu practice and asked for a quick bathroom break. Once he was in a public restroom, with Jiraiya waiting near the sink (Tsunade was getting a tad overprotective), he created another clone and gated it back to Tsunami's house. Then he actually used the toilet, since he was there anyway.

* * *

"GAH!" yelled Inari when another Naruto appeared out of nowhere.

"Don't be so loud, Inari," said the clone as he twisted a pinky in one of his ears. "And don't hug me so hard. I'm not the real one, though I have all the memories of him."

"So I..."

"Squeezed a Kage Bunshin to death."

"Oh."

"Good to see you though. Huh? Have you been doing some weight training?"

"Yup! I want to be a great ninja someday, just like you!"

Tsunami giggled. "We were actually going to put him in Konoha's Ninja Academy at the start of the new school year."

"Don't bother."

"What!?" asked the young boy. "Why not!?"

"Because, I'll train you."

"What are you talking about, Naruto-kun?" asked Tsunami.

"What he's talking about," began Tazuna. "Is building a new Hidden Village here in Wave. He's going to bring some ninja with him. I assume that he wants Inari to be one of the newest ninja in our fine country."

"WOW!" laughed Inari, obviously excited.

"Yup. I'm checking with some of those ninja right now. Also, we'll have the ability to defend the entire nation from invaders, if it all goes to plan."

"COOL!"

* * *

"Chuunin, huh?"

"Troublesome. Don't you know how to not sneak up on people?"

"Always good to practice. Why weren't you more alert, anyway?"

"Because we're here too and we knew he'd doze off," said a large ninja with food in his hand.

"Hello Chouji, Ino."

Ino looked confused. "But, we masked our chakra and were completely silent! Why weren't you startled or surprised!?"

"Calm down, Ino," admonished Shikamaru. "He's got a bloodline that lets him see everything around him."

"Oh. Yeah."

"Oh, just so you guys know, I'm not the real Naruto, just a shadow clone."

"Understandable," replied Shikamaru. "What's up?"

"Already deduced that I'm not here for socialization, huh?"

"Well, you were supposed to have left on a mission with Jiraiya, which I assume you still are on. You wouldn't bug us just for the fun of it. Well, maybe you would, but I doubt that's what you're doing."

"All of it is true. Anyway, this is for your ears and your clans' ears only: I'm going to start a new Hidden Village soon. You and your clans are invited to come along. The whole clan doesn't have to go, of course. I will be happy with whomever chooses to attend."

* * *

"Hello, Neji."

"Naruto. Or one of your clones. Why do you bother my training?"

"I'm studying seals."

"For when you become Hokage?"

"Actually, I've changed my goal. I want to be the Shodai Tokikage."

"Toki... kage? Starting a new village?"

"And you're invited. I'm willing to remove the Caged Bird Seal from you, as soon as I figure out how, if you are willing to join the Village Hidden in Time once it is built."

"And the other branch house members?"

"Try to spread the word around among them at your discretion, but be discreet."

"And Hinata?"

"Inviting her as we speak. I have no doubt she'll say yes."

"You're a clone then."

"Of course. Anyone else you want me to invite?"

"Guy-sensei might not go for it. Lee... maybe or maybe not. Do ask Tenten, however."

"Will do."

* * *

"Hello, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon!"

"BOSS!"

"Whoa! Don't jump at me! I'm just a shadow clone, not the real deal!"

"Oh. Stand down troops."

"Heh. Shooting for Chuunin already?"

"Yup!"

"Well, anyway... I've got this idea... I want to start a new Hidden Village. Do you want in?"

"Well... I'd love to, but I still wanna be Hokage!"

"Very well. Hopefully we can still be allies when that happens, eh?"

"Sure thing... this means that you ain't the boss anymore, huh?"

"No, but I think you can step up to the position! Prank them in my absence, yeah?"

"YEAH!" All three kids were excited at this.

* * *

At the academy, in the instructors' lounge where someone was grading papers...

"Iruka-sensei!"

"Oh, hello Naruto. Wait... Naruto? What are you doing here!? I thought you had a mission!"

"I do. I'm a Kage Bunshin."

"Oh. Well, you shouldn't call me sensei anymore, you know."

"Force of habit. Hey. Hypothetically -"

"Do you even know what that word means?"

"Shut up and listen! If I were to hypothetically create a new HiddenVillage, would you join?"

"Possibly. Hypothetically, why would you want to?"

"Konoha is too dangerous, truly. Some of our ANBU were discretely aiding the enemy, according to reports made by other ANBU."

"How do you know this?"

"Broke into the Hokage Tower again. Hypothetically."

"Again?" Iruka smirked. "Hypothetically, of course."

"Again. Anyway, I have found that there is another division of ANBU: ANBU Ne (Root). They answer to some guy named Danzou, who has been trying to get the position of Hokage ever since the Nidaime died. I want to protect my precious people from him. Hypothetically."

"Well, if all this hypothetical stuff was true, I'd be sure to join."

* * *

"GET OUT OF MY FOREST, GAKI!"

"Hear me out, you crazy snake woman!"

"Fine. What do you want?"

* * *

"Hello, Shino, Kiba."

"Naruto? What are you doing here? I thought you had a mission or something."

"Obviously it is a shadow clone," stated Shino sagely.

"Am I bothering you guys or anything?"

"Naw! What did you want to say to us, then?"

"Well..."

* * *

"Come for some ramen, Naruto."

"Sorry Ayame-nee-chan, I'm a clone. Not the real deal."

"Too bad," said Teuchi. "So, what can we do for you?"

"Konoha is strong, but politically corrupt. Some big events are going to happen soon and I want to save the both of you from the fallout."

Teuchi looked around. "You sure someone isn't listening?"

"Definitely. Anyway, here's what I was thinking..."

* * *

"Not every day a shadow clone seeks a private audience with me."

"I'm sure, Morino-san."

"Just like you asked, I'm meeting you alone in a sealed room, no windows, no bugs, no cameras, and privacy seals to prevent others from looking or listening in. What did you wish to discuss with me, Uzumaki? Do keep in mind that even with your bloodline I can still wipe the floors with your real body."

"I know. Hey, you ever hear of ANBU Ne?"

* * *

"Guy-san and Lee-san, just the two I wanted to see."

"YOSH! WHAT DOES THE STUDENT OF MY ETERNAL RIVAL WANT!?"

A nurse leaned in from a room adjacent to Lee's and threw a clipboard at Guy. The eccentric man ducked the object which imbedded itself in the wall.

"Keep quiet!" she hissed, before going back to her business.

"How you holding up, Lee?"

"Well enough. They won't let me train..."

"Ah. That explains the chains and binding seal arrays."

"Yeah."

"So, Uzumaki-san, what are you doing here?" asked the Jounin.

"This is a shadow clone. You see, I'm fixing to make a new ninja village..."

"Defecting from Konoha?"

"Well, I'll still be allied with Konoha. The problem is that most of the populace hates me. Most of those who don't are simply indifferent to me, leaving just a few who actually acknowledge me."

"What about becoming Hokage?" asked Lee, surprised.

"Someone from Konoha would probably try to assassinate me in the first week. I doubt that they'd succeed, but it's the thought that counts. Instead, I'd rather be the leader of a new village. Start from scratch, provide a haven for refugees from Kiri, that sort of thing."

"So why are you coming to us with this?" asked Guy.

"Neji has agreed to leave Konohagakure and join Tokigakure as soon as I have everything set up."

"Toki?"

"Neji?"

"Yeah. Time. And Neji had requested that I ask you two if you would accompany us when the time was right. Have you made your decision now, or do you need time to think it over?"

Guy and Lee shared a look.

* * *

At the end of the week...

"Shit!"

"What is it, Shizune-san?" asked the bronze-blonde groggily.

"Tsunade-sama's gone! I bet she went to meet with Orochimaru!"

"Hmmm... Where's the old pervert?"

"I don't know! I found your bruised body at that park and brought you back here, and then Tsunade-sama knocked me out!"

"Oh wait, there he is."

Shizune whipped her head around to where the bronze-blonde was pointing. Sure enough, Jiraiya was perched in the window, but he looked groggy. Or drunk.

"Drunk again, Jiraiya?"

"Not exactly. Tsunade-hime poisoned me with a chakra inhibitor."

"You must be losing your touch then."

"Shut up! Where could she have gone!?"

"How would Toki know!?" exclaimed Shizune.

"Because, just like you already know, I'm Naruto. And I have a new bloodline."

Shizune gasped when Naruto pulled his shades further down his nose, revealing his eyes.

"The Rabosugan allows me to see much like a Hyuga, but also see much further out. Tsunade's on the west side of town... we should hurry!"

* * *

"Thank you, Kabuto-kun. How did you know she would try to betray me and kill Kimimaro?"

"She didn't properly secure the sacrifices. I felt she was lying to us."

"You lied to Orochimaru-sama!"

"Yeah yeah. Stupid Kaguya. I suppose I'll have to kill all of you then."

Before Tsunade could react, Kabuto slit his wrist and the resulting blood spray hit her in the face. Kabuto quickly healed the cut while the Slug Princess froze up in fear.

"Perhaps plan B will work better?" queried the spy.

"Fine," responded Orochimaru. "Let's take her back to Oto."

"Not so fast, Snake-teme!"

The three Otonin turned to see Naruto, Jiraiya, and Shizune (Tonton as well) jumping out of a multi-colored hole in the... air?

"Toki, you take care of Tsunade while I fight the other three."

"Jiraiya? You're an idiot."

Naruto bit his thumb and went through a familiar seal sequence. Orochimaru was about to bite his own thumb when he saw a strange creature appear, about the size of a man. It was round, with spindly arms and legs, a blank stare, yellow tuft of hair up top, and a dark gray coloration - not quite black, but still dark.

"Hello, Nu Master!"

"Nuuuuu. The Nu Master is my older brother. I'm the Nu Guardian. Nuuuuu, what can I do for you, Toki?"

"Can you heal Jiraiya?"

"No, but this panacea might help with that poison. Nuuuuu."

Jiraiya took the glass vial from the weird creature and downed the liquid within. It tasted nasty, but he could feel his chakra already flowing more freely. He grinned before jumping forward to attack Orochimaru. The Oto-nin got over their surprise at seeing such a strange summon and began to fight back.

"I also need you to help me protect Tsunade."

"Nuuuuu. Very well."

Orochimaru barked out some orders.

"The two of you go kill the brat and the brunette and force the summon to retreat; I'll deal with Jiraiya!"

Kabuto broke off his attack on Jiraiya and went for Shizune whereas Kimimaro went for Naruto.

Quick as lightning, the Kaguya ripped his humerus out of his left arm and transformed it into a sword, with which he struck at the bronze-blonde. Naruto barely had enough time to gate in the Kusanagi to block the attack, and was forced into the Crane Style of deflection to avoid getting skewered.

_**Ah, a Shikotsumyaku-user. **_(Dead Bone Pulse)

_A what?_

_**He uses his bones as weaponry. Coincidentally, I am almost done with Level Two of the Rabosugan. Hold him off for three minutes and we can activate it.**_

Naruto started pouring chakra into his arms, legs, and the parietal lobe of his cerebral cortex to increase his strength and ability to react.

* * *

Shizune was in trouble from the first instant. Her attempts to poison the spectacled Oto-nin went unsuccessfully. Even the one time she hit him with a poisoned senbon in the foot... he simply cut off the foot at the ankle and regenerated it in a matter of moments while still attacking her with chakra scalpels. Then, Kabuto slashed her along her right forearm, cutting the tendons to her fingers. She couldn't heal such damage yet, and she was unable to use any more jutsu.

Just then, Kabuto charged her from her injured side, going straight for her throat. She grit her teeth and shut her eyelids, waiting for the pain or death... only to hear the silver-haired opponent grunt. She opened her eyes to see that the strange creature Naruto summoned had bodily tackled (or was it head-butted?) Kabuto. The Nu no longer looked like he was spacing out - a look of intense concentration graced his features.

Curious, Kabuto tried to attack with his scalpels again, beginning with his left arm. The Nu's left arm twisted around and caught the Oto-nin's arm, wrapping around it twice.

"Flare," said the gray Nu as his free hand made a few half-seals. Almost instantly, his free hand was holding an orb of fire which detonated immediately, blowing Kabuto off his feet.

When Kabuto painfully landed, he had to quickly put out his smoldering clothing, only to dodge the Nu's next head-butt (or was it a body slam?). Kabuto tried to axe-kick the creature, but the Guardian rolled onto his haunches and blocked with both of his arms crossed, grasping onto the ninja's ankle with both hands.

"Hypnosis," he said.

Kabuto began to feel drowsy, but surged his chakra to dispel the genjutsu only to have the Nu throw him over his head/body and straight into a boulder. The silver-haired shinobi scrambled up the large rock just before the Nu ran smack into it, cracking the stone. Kabuto quickly threw a kunai at the creature before it could react, but it simply grazed off of its body/head, leaving a small scratch.

The Nu Guardian merely looked up at Kabuto and smirked.

"Luminaire!"

The boulder exploded. The air around them exploded. There was a blinding light, a massive, deafening thunderclap, and Kabuto suddenly found himself about a hundred meters in the air.

* * *

Hearing the explosion and seeing it, Orochimaru and Jiraiya paused in their battle.

"Jiraiya-kun... what did that brat summon?"

"He said it was called a 'Nu'."

"Interesting that a summon so small can cause so many problems. Kuchiyose!"

Orochimaru summoned a three-headed snake to attack, but...

"Doton: Yomi Numa!" (Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld)

... it quickly became trapped in a chakra-draining swamp. Orochimaru then leapt at Jiraiya, his new golden strands of hair glittering in the sun. Jiraiya quickly went through the seals of another jutsu just as Orochimaru's neck stretched out.

"Ninpo: Hari Jizou!" (Ninja Art: Jizou's Needles)

Orochimaru had to rapidly draw his head back as Jiraiya's hair whipped around him protectively, making a shield much like a porcupine. Before Orochimaru had a chance to react, Jiraiya's hair parted to reveal three kunai that the white-haired man had thrown at the snake ninja. Orochimaru dodged to the side, but not quickly enough as one of the kunai lodged itself into the shoulder socket joint of his left arm. The limb hung limply at his side.

The snake Sannin began chuckling.

"Well, this is certainly like old times."

* * *

Naruto was hard-pressed against his bone-wielding opponent, who had drawn a second humerus sword out of his other arm. However, when the Nu Guardian's Luminaire detonated, Kimimaro was distracted by the flash of light. Naruto took that opportunity to switch to the Tiger Style and attack his opponent's jugular, but the man's collarbone left its normal position to block the attack, halting it completely. What was worse was that the Kusanagi got stuck in that bone, pretty much disarming Naruto.

The bronze-blonde had to leap out of the way as Kimimaro spun on his heel, swords extended. Naruto realized he was in trouble, so he created a shadow clone and dispelled it, letting all the rest of his clones that he needed their chakra back. To avoid a massive headache, each clone in Konoha and Wave dispelled itself two seconds after the one before it had, allowing Naruto to regain a portion of the chakra used to create them.

What no one had realized was that Naruto was slightly dyslexic, causing him to make the cross-shaped seal for the Kagebunshin in the wrong direction when he first learned the jutsu. Normally, doing this caused a jutsu to fail, but Naruto had stumbled upon a new variation of the jutsu, allowing the creator of the shadow clone to regain some chakra when a clone dispelled itself (but not when it was dispelled by an attack).

Being at about fifteen percent chakra capacity, Naruto's reserves were suddenly bolstered by all of his clones made in the past couple of days dispelling themselves, allowing himself to restore his chakra to ninety-two percent.

Kimimaro tried to attack again, only to be surprised when Naruto suddenly and seallessly used the Kawarimi (Body Replacement) to switch with a boulder. He quickly spotted the bronze-blonde, but not before Naruto had completed a familiar seal sequence.

"Kuchiyose: the Sisters Six!"

Six Nus showed up, two of them were blue, one was a dark orange, and the other three were a yellowish green, but all of them had red hair. They really didn't look that much different from the male Nus, in any case.

"Nuuuuu," said the orange one. "Beat the freak and get the sword!"

At her command, the other five charged at Kimimaro while she put her hands together and began to chant.

However, Kimimaro wasn't just about to sit there and let them attack.

"Yanagi no Mai!" (Dance of the Willow)

He dropped his humerus bones and spikes grew out of his knees, elbows, shoulders, and palms. He slashed at the two blue Sisters when they came close, hitting one across the belly while the other dodged. The injured one was forced back to the summon world by how deep the cut was, nearly hitting her in the heart.

Kimimaro quickly attacked the other blue Sister, also forcing her to retreat. However, he had left his back open, allowing one of the green Sisters to slam her body/head into his spine, cracking it. It certainly was painful, but he quickly repaired his spinal column with his chakra, and spun, striking the green Sister and another one, dispelling them both with deadly wounds.

At this time though, the orange Sister finished chanting...

"The Gods in Heaven frown upon our haste! Slow!"

Kimimaro felt sluggish, and no amount of chakra seemed to allow him to move much more quickly. The other green Sister viciously head-butted/body-slammed him in the head before he had time to get away, and she managed to wrench the Kusanagi from his collarbone. Just when she was about to get clear though...

"Teshi Sendan!" (Drilling Finger Bullet)

Kimimaro lifted his arms at the Nu's back, and his finger bones shot out of his fingers, drilling deep into her back and striking her lungs. She dropped the infamous sword and disappeared. Kimimaro turned to the last Sister to see her giving Naruto what appeared to be a chakra infusion, restoring him to full capacity. She grinned at the Kaguya before disappearing.

Naruto removed his sunglasses and dropped them into a small Gate, allowing Kimimaro to see his chaotically swirling eyes. He turned a bit to look at Tsunade, who was trembling about twenty meters to his right.

"Hey, Tsunade-baa-chan!" (Tsunade-granny)

She was somewhat startled, and still in a daze, but she still looked at Naruto.

"I'm fighting for you, so you'd better appreciate it."

She blinked. Naruto turned back to Kimimaro, who was puzzled by the bronze-blonde's eyes.

"Do you like my Rabosugan? You'll be the first to witness Level Two: Koura Rabosu!" (Lavos's Shell)

Naruto's hair turned into a deep bronze, and his nails on his fingers did as well. Both began to lengthen and spike, and additional growths of the stuff sprouted from within his arms. Furthermore, the bronze-colored armor went around his clothing and covered it. Soon, all but his smirking face was covered. Then, a darker-colored brown, carapace-like plate suddenly slid over his eyes and nose, followed by two additional plates covering the rest of his face, making it look like he had a tri-hinged beak of some sort. Then it opened. A single white point resided in the center of a swirling chaos of colors reminiscent of the bronze-blonde's eyes. Before Kimimaro had time to contemplate the significance of what he was seeing, the mouth/eye/thing closed and opened, with a resounding roar. It was blood-curdling. Gut-wrenching. The sound brought out some of the most primal fears in everyone who could hear it... Even the ground shook as if the planet itself was afraid.

Needless to say, Kimimaro had an involuntary bowel movement prior to screaming his head off in fear. His mind practically shut down to keep itself sane, and his subconscious took over... despite the fact that it was scared as well.

* * *

When Orochimaru heard the roar, he stumbled whereas Jiraiya simply tensed up briefly, and then continued to attack. The Snake Sannin's fighting form was positively sloppy after his stumbling, but that was due to the hallucination he was trying to ignore.

He was the greatest of the Sannin! Orochimaru! But... he was but one man. One sick and twisted man on a lonely planet on the edge of the galaxy... on a backwater end of the universe. The infinite universe had no compassion for him. In fact, he may as well not exist: he was insignificant - a meaningless carbon-based life-form on a speck, orbiting a slightly larger, glowing speck on the edge of infinity. He was nothing. He understood nothing. All he knew was that he was merely food for the ultimate predator - an eldritch creature of immeasurable power and age, to whom planets barely count as meals. Orochimaru would not make a meal by himself - he was merely a grain of salt. Useful, but ultimately unimportant.

Jiraiya felt the fear, yes. But the killing intent was not directed at him, and Naruto told him that such an event may eventually happen, so he was somewhat prepared for it. He could tell, though, that Orochimaru was deeply affected by the mental attack, causing him to be a much easier target.

Perhaps he'd be able to take his former best friend down?

* * *

Kabuto managed to redirect his descent to the ground with a well-placed Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough). Then he and the Nu Guardian stared off.

"Foolish ninja, Nuuuuu."

"What?"

"If you didn't fight back, I wouldn't be able to use my stronger attacks. Nuuuuu."

"What do you mean?" asked Shizune.

"Nuuuuu. I was cursed when I was just a smidge. I couldn't use my... chakra unless I had been attacked. Nuuuuu, so I developed a reaction-based fighting style. Tee hee! If four-eyes fights back, I get to use my more powerful jutsus! Nuuuuu!"

Kabuto swallowed - he was in for a difficult battle.

The ground suddenly trembled, and then they all heard the inhuman roar and flash of power. The killing intent was so fierce that Kabuto had vivid visions... of a red star falling from the sky and striking the planet... of immense indifference to humanity, as if people were less than cattle... of the ground erupting and power flooding the sky... the earth scorched, blackened with ashes... the sky dark, and an endless winter... atop a mountain, miniatures of the red star descended and spread out over the surface until the center of the planet exploded, hurtling debris and... monsters to additional worlds to repeat the process...

Kabuto emptied his stomach right there, where he stood. But his queasiness and shock were the least of his worries as the Nu Guardian seemed to shrug off the killing intent and rammed straight into his chest, cracking a few ribs.

Shizune, though she felt fear, she wasn't paralyzed by it. She looked around to see that Orochimaru had stumbled, but Jiraiya was seemingly unaffected. Tsunade... well, she wasn't quivering anymore - she sat there, jaw slackened, staring at the fight unfolding in front of her. That Kaguya was screaming in fear of what he was fighting, though. What was he fighting? It was bronze, about Naruto's height, and... using the Kusanagi!? That was Naruto!?

She turned back to see Kabuto and the Nu go at it, watching as Kabuto tried to go with a right hook only to be dodged. The Nu went through some hand seals...

"All Time flows like a river! Let it flow no more! Time Freeze!"

Kabuto just stopped, all color on his person turning to shades of gray. The gray Nu rushed forward and grasped Kabuto's head, twisting it until a loud crack was heard.

"Nuuuuu, regenerate from that!"

Suddenly, Kabuto's body collapsed bonelessly, as if he were a puppet whose strings had been cut. The Nu turned to Shizune, and walked up to her, inspecting her damaged arm. He then reached into his throat where the panacea that he'd given Jiraiya had come from, and found a small bottle. It looked like a beaker of some sort.

"Nuuuuu, that is called a mid-potion. It should be able to heal the tendons in your arm if you drink it."

"But, this was in your mouth!"

"Nuuuuu. Don't worry - I brushed my teeth this morning."

Shizune sweatdropped.

* * *

Tsunade was shocked - the boy had a kekkei genkai (bloodline limit)! And what's more was his doujutsu seemed to have hidden qualities about it too! Armor from hair and nails!

And that roar... well, that sound would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life, but on the bright side... she didn't fear blood anymore. Her hemophobia seemed outright silly in comparison to the fear she felt when Toki - rather, Naruto - made that horrible noise. Obviously, the kid didn't have the Kyubi within him. Perhaps he had something else in him? She was going to have to ask Sarutobi-sensei when she got back to Konoha - obviously the brat had managed to win the bet... or he cheated. But hey, he's a ninja. He seemed to have learned that an unfair advantage is the one you don't have, and he probably cheated to win. Not that she thought he was going to lose when she made the bet, even though she hadn't realized it. Tsunade had given it some thought over the week and realized that she was going to go to Konoha even if she won the bet - the boy had stirred some strong emotions within her soul.

She was going to see to it that he became the best ninja there ever was and would help him with whatever his dream was, even if it wasn't becoming an ANBU captain!

* * *

Naruto felt great! He was well-protected against Kimimaro's bone attacks and was able to keep fighting as well!

Wait... Drat! The Akatsuki members probably heard or felt the Lavos Scream he had given off, and were coming to investigate.

Apparently, Orochimaru sensed this as well and rushed to Kabuto's side - the spy was still breathing and still alive, but his neck had been snapped, rendering him practically useless. The Nu Guardian was a powerful ally, despite his curse. The snake Sannin created a mud clone, which he used to carefully pick up Kabuto's body.

"Kimimaro-kun! We're leaving!"

"YES!" replied the Kaguya a little too quickly. He practically teleported to Orochimaru's side and grasped firmly onto his arm.

"See you around - I'll have to kill you all later!"

With that, Orochimaru sank into the ground.

Naruto, wanting to fool the Akatsuki, powered down his Koura Rabosu. He then gated his sunglasses back in and put them on.

"Feeling better, Tsunade-baa-chan?" he asked as he turned towards the Slug Princess.

"Yeah... Toki-"

"Naruto, as you well know."

"Okay. Naruto, what was that... armor?"

"A gift from my tenant: a fearsome beast that eats worlds but is easily bored."

"Bored?"

"It finds helping me out to be infinitely more interesting than destroying our world. By the way, you may want to get ready - Akatsuki comes!"

Shizune began reloading her senbon launcher while Jiraiya and Tsunade got into fighting stances. The Nu Guardian pulled a bottle out of his mouth, uncorked it, and drank the liquid within. His few wounds healed as he threw the bottle behind him and rolled his shoulders, getting ready for another fight. Naruto went into a Heron-styled kenjutsu stance.

Suddenly, four sets of black cloaks with red clouds appeared, surrounding the group. The largest one had a balding head and a black facemask, but he also had a scorpion-like tail waving around behind him menacingly. The one next to him had blonde hair and a large smirk. Next to him was Kisame, with his shark-like face and his large, bandaged sword. Between Kisame and the largest one was Itachi, who had acquired a katana from somewhere.

"You know," began Jiraiya. "You boys just missed your old friend Orochimaru."

The blonde replied. "He's not the prize, yeah? We just want the fox, but if you Sannin interfere... Well, no guarantees that you'll live, yeah?"

"Deidara-san," admonished the largest one with the scorpion tail. "Don't maim Jiraiya too badly - his body will make an excellent chakra battery."

"Yeah yeah, you and your 'everlasting art'! Don't feed me that crap, Sasori-san!"

"Will the both of you shut up!?" asked Kisame. "Our opponents aren't to be taken lightly!"

With that, Naruto barely shifted to a Crane stance and deflected Sasori's tail while Jiraiya attacked Itachi with a kunai. Deidara dodged Shizune's poisoned senbon while Kisame expertly blocked Tsunade's punch with his sword, Samehada, absorbing the burst of chakra used to power Tsunade's monstrous strength.

Deidara stuck a hand into one of his pockets and pulled out three small lumps of clay, which the freaky mouth on his palm began to chew. Before he could do anything else, he had to dodge another of Shizune's senbon barrages. Unfortunately, he dodged right into the Nu Guardian's charge, getting all the wind forcefully expelled from his lungs.

Naruto was forced backwards by Sasori's expert jabs, when suddenly the tail darted off to the left, towards Jiraiya. He had no time to warn the Toad Sage before he was stabbed in the back. Luckily, Jiraiya felt a change in the wind with his long hair and managed to partially dodge the attack, keeping the bladed end of the tail from stabbing him in the lung, spine, or heart, but Sasori still managed to slice open the old man's right kidney. It was all Jiraiya could do to send chakra to his diaphragm and heart to keep them from freezing up when his body felt the shock of the pain before he passed out.

Ignoring his suddenly-downed opponent, Itachi turned his attention to Naruto, pulling the kunai out of his left elbow where Jiraiya had expertly stabbed him. The bronze-blonde was about to try something, when Tsunade's body landed next to him, bleeding from her shoulders, forearms, and knuckles. She also had a busted kneecap. He also noticed that Shizune had been forced to back up until she was standing next to him by Sasori's tail.

Naruto checked on the Nu Guardian only to realize that the three clay beetles attached to the Nu's back were positively saturated with chakra. Deidara made the ram seal, and the three beetles exploded spectacularly. The Nu Guardian's charred body landed a few feet away from Naruto.

"Nu Guardian!" the bronze-blonde gasped.

"Nuuuuu!" stirred the blackened body, before its spindly arms waved about it in a seemingly random pattern, making some sort of hand seals. Four black orbs appeared from nowhere, orbiting the Nu for about a quarter turn before disappearing. "Dark Matter," said the Nu, before disappearing in a burst of smoke.

A rift in space-time opened, showing an inky triangular plane, spotted with thousands of pinpoints of light. Despite what one might think, the pinpoints were not stars. A second triangle of pure white appeared within it, spinning and twisting, one of the points seemingly locking on to Itachi, Deidara, Kisame, and Sasori briefly before the whole thing disappeared with a loud sound similar to radio static. Itachi was suddenly flat on his back, badly bruised and hemorrhaging, but still breathing and able to rise to his feet. Kisame was leaning on his sword, very much winded from the attack while Samehada gave off smoke and the smell of ozone - obviously his sentient sword absorbed most of the attack.

Deidara seemed to have been hit the hardest, as he lay still, barely breathing inside a small crater, with small wisps of smoke curling above his form; he was out cold. Sasori... was pissed. He kicked open the back of his ruined battle armor puppet and crawled out.

"I'll make you pay for that," threatened Sasori at the two still-conscious Leaf ninja.

"(What do we do?)" asked Shizune, voice barely above a whisper.

**_This is bad._**

_How so?_

**_We don't have enough energy to fight any one of them off, nor do we have any attacks that are tricky or powerful enough to scare them away or even kill them. Sure, if it was any one of them, we'd win, but not against three of them with our strongest allies laid out like throw rugs..._**

_I suppose I should summon Spekkio then._

**_Allow me to help._**

Faster than Naruto knew he could move, he bit his thumb and went through the seals to summon.

"Kuchiyose: the Master of War!"

Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori tensed, fearing a large summon. There certainly was enough smoke for it. When the smoke cleared, all parties present were shocked to see a small green frog with a purple tongue hanging out of its mouth, hoping from one hind leg to the next.

Before Naruto could speak, Itachi had suddenly appeared in front of the frog and stabbed it.

"Foolish for you to -" WHAM!!

The unscathed frog kicked the Uchiha in the jaw, launching him a good fifteen meters before the black-haired ninja hit the side of a building rather painfully (well, obviously; how many other ways can you be slammed into a wall?). Naruto (and everyone else) looked to see a stuffed toy almost identical to the frog pinned to the ground with Itachi's sword. Kisame and Sasori backed up, waiting to see if there were any other surprises while Itachi fought to stay conscious.

"Spekkio?" Naruto asked.

"Yup. That's me. Wow. Powerful characters you've called me in to fight." Spekkio's voice sounded fairly high-pitched, but with a frog in his throat (pun intended).

"Um... If I may be so bold as to ask, why do you look so weak? And why aren't you a Nu?"

"I am a Nu - I just shapeshift. As for your other question... it's like this: if you're weak, I look weak and if you're strong, I look strong. Right now, I look as strong as the strongest amongst all the people here."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "You trying to say something?"

"Yeah. Train more, especially with me. Anyway, I don't think I can beat these guys with just my little amphibious form..."

Spekkio spun out of the way as Kisame tried to smash him with his sword. Suddenly, Spekkio was a bit larger; he was now 1.6 meters tall with a face like a raccoon, clawed, four-toed feet, ears like a bat, hands like a monkey, and white fur almost everywhere. Kisame barely had time to block the large chunk of ice that the shapeshifter suddenly sent at him, knocking the swordsman off-balance. Spekkio spun again, this time planting a fist under Kisame's chin, sending him stumbling backwards.

At this point, Deidara began to moan as he regained consciousness and Naruto and Shizune had busied themselves with trying to heal Tsunade (Shizune with medical chakra and Naruto with the Cure spell).

Before Deidara could get up though, Spekkio leapt into the air, suddenly coming down on the blonde, his form having changed again. The fur was gone, replaced by blue skin covering fat and muscle. His feet and hands now had five digits each, ending in talons. On his muscular arms was a pair of golden wrist-binders, and topping his head was a mane of green hair. His ears had shrunk, but they remained pointy, like an elf's. A short, bulbous nose was centered on his now-menacing face, with sharp teeth lining his wicked grin.

Needless to say, Deidara wouldn't be getting up for awhile, especially with those cracked ribs.

Sasori unsealed a puppet, and Shizune gasped when she saw it.

"What?" asked Naruto as he continued to focus energy on Tsunade, willing her deep wounds to mend and her chakra reserves to refill.

"That's the Sandaime Kazekage! The man with the Iron Sand bloodline!"

A blade of magnetic filings swept at Spekkio, but the leader of the Nus dodged it easily. Simultaneously, a bolt of lightning struck the puppet, blowing off its head while Spekkio blocked Itachi's kick with his forearm. He then twisted his arm around the Uchiha's leg and tossed him towards Kisame, who had to twist to avoid injuring his ally but also giving up the momentum of his charge and the sword swing he was going to attempt.

Despite the loss of its head, the Sandaime Kazekage puppet still functioned, albeit a bit sluggishly. Still, Sasori attempted to attack the undefended Naruto, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune with the iron sand when his favorite puppet burst into flames and scrap. Standing in the center of the explosion was Spekkio, a frown on his face. He shifted again, becoming much larger and more muscular, wearing a dark red armor with a lighter-red robe over it. He wore blue gloves and boots and sported a huge mace, and wore a thick helmet. But what was truly weird was that Spekkio's now-black face had only one eye in the middle, making his 2.5 meter form really imposing.

He whipped around, blocking Kisame's strike with his mace. Suddenly, a blue wave of energy shot out from Spekkio's body, covering the ground and buildings with frost. Blocks of ice began appearing out of nowhere and went straight for the Akatsuki members. Itachi stopped dodging long enough to grab Deidara's broken body to keep it out of harm's way while Kisame blocked with his sword, the energy in the ice blocks seeming to dissipate.

"Interesting," Spekkio's deep baritone of a voice said as the frost melted. "That sword of yours reminds me of another weapon."

The leader of the Nus spared a glance at his summoner to see that he had successfully revived Tsunade and she, Naruto, and Shizune were reviving Jiraiya before Spekkio turned back to his fight.

This time, Spekkio's body gave off a bright light...

He was now three meters tall and sported thick muscles on his now-blue hide. He had a large mouth with purple lips, two beady eyes, two curved horns coming out of the back of his head, and wore almost nothing - only boots, a loincloth, and a single metal armband on his left arm. Comically, his legs were puny and his belly huge... but he was still well-muscled.

He grabbed Samehada by the blade and punched Kisame in the face. Itachi, after having dropped Deidara off in a safe location nearby, tried to use his Amaterasu jutsu to hit Spekkio, but the blue monster was ready.

"Obstacle," he murmured, before a black orb enveloped him. The Amaterasu splashed harmlessly off of the barrier before the black orb's surface crackled with electricity. It arched off of the sphere and struck out against Itachi, Sasori, and Kisame, knocking Itachi unconscious by striking him between the eyes (even though he attempted to dodge). Sasori managed to dodge, but Kisame was hit in the chest with it. He began cackling madly while swaying on his feet. Just as Spekkio's barrier fell away, the shark-like man attacked the puppet master. Sasori's robe ripped apart while wing-like blades suddenly protruded from his back and a blade on the end of a steel cable tore through it. The cable wrapped around Kisame and his sword while his hand hit Kisame on the back of the neck hard enough to shatter stone... but the shark man simply went unconscious.

"Seems I shouldn't hold back against you," muttered Sasori, before removing a storage scroll from his back. "Aka Hiki: Hyakki no Souen!" (Red Secret Technique: Performance of the Hundred Human Puppets)

As one hundred various puppets appeared around Sasori, Spekkio shifted his shape one final time, causing Sasori to pause, Naruto to fall over in surprise, Shizune to giggle, Tsunade to smirk, and the now-conscious Jiraiya to laugh.

Spekkio was in the shape of a Nu. He had that blank stare, but it looked somewhat faked. He stood only a little taller than the Nu Master Naruto had summoned before, had green hair... and was the color pink.

"Why are you all so surprised?" asked Spekkio, his voice sounding jolly and not quite as deep as before. "This IS my true form. Besides, how else will I take down one-hundred opponents?"

Sasori wasn't amused. His puppets viciously went on the offensive, some of them even going after the four ninja behind Spekkio.

Spekkio... frowned. Then the pink Nu said something in a menacing whisper, but it was heard by everyone.

"Hallation."

A wave of blue energy shot off of the Nu's body, making a noise reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard, and plowed through the puppets, smashing them to splinters. Sasori, his body being closer to the parts that still made him human, still broke apart, but was more intact, unlike the sawdust that his one-hundred puppets had become.

What Sasori didn't realize was that the attack was effective against groups of enemies, but couldn't actually kill living things - it just weakened the targets to the point where they were easily finished off. Since Sasori's puppets weren't alive at all, but were still targeted by the attack, they were easily destroyed by Spekkio's assault.

Before Spekkio or anyone else could capitalize on Itachi's, Sasori's, and Kisame's vulnerability, four large grey falcons swooped down and picked up Itachi, Kisame, Sasori, and Sasori's storage scroll. The Nu looked to the north to see a fifth falcon carrying what he had assumed to be an unconscious Deidara.

Spekkio shrugged, and shifted back to his frog form, cycling through his transformations in reverse order.

"Toki, you seriously lack in power and skill," stated Spekkio once he was an amphibian again. "Summon me again for training sometime."

POOF!

* * *

Naruto made several kage bunshin and sent them to see all the people they were talking to and let them know he was alright before having them dispell.

Since Naruto was emotionally and physically exhausted, he went to sleep while Jiraiya carried him on his shoulders. The old man's back was not what it used to be though, so he tried to hand him off to Tsunade only to have Shizune take him instead. The twenty-eight-year-old seemed surprised she did so, and was blushing furiously as she carried him piggy-back style. Tsunade opted to hold Tonton.

_Lucky brat_, thought Jiraiya. _Shizune is quite the looker, and from what Naruto told me, age doesn't really matter to him. He's like, what? Thirteen? A fifteen-year gap between lovers isn't considered abnormal in the ninja lifestyle, as ninja die all the time. I hope they can be happy together... and keep on providing me with such great inspiration!_

Tsunade glared at Jiraiya after his perverted giggle and the fact that he was writing while he walked. Shizune, on the other hand, didn't notice.

* * *

End Chapter Five.

Next chapter: Building Tokigakure.

Authors Notes

Finally, you know why the title of this fic is what it is. Well, unless you had already figured it out. I mean, seriously, I gave plenty of hints!

This story is getting complicated. But that's a good thing. I'll just have to try harder to keep track.

If you don't know what a humerus or a parietal lobe is... there is such a thing as Google. And your high school sucks if they didn't teach you about human anatomy in biology.

The Spekkio fight scene was actually quite difficult to do. Also, adapting the spells from the game to the Naruto world is sort of taxing. Still, it was good to get that out.

And I used "Obstacle" from the Ted Woosley translation (SNES/PSX) because it sounds so much better than "Chaos Zone" from Tom Slattery's translation (DS). Some of the newer spell/tech names are better though, so I'll generally be using those (or a variation thereof); actually, I'll just use whichever sounds better. Examples: "Spire" (Woosley) "Lightning Rod" (Slattery) but "Confuse" "Frenzy".

Thanks to Cylon One and Vassago-Toxicity for doing what they do.

And sorry for not updating this on June 1st, 2009. I was really busy yesterday, and totally forgot to update.

Naruto's Spellbook:

Rabosugan Level Two: Koura Rabosu  
Using his connection to Lavos, Naruto activates the second level of the Rabosugan, which can be turned off (unlike the first level). It creates nearly indestructible armor like Lavos's Shell, and does not damage the clothing or equipment that Naruto has with him. Additionally, though his fingers get covered in the armor, he still has a full range of movement with them, allowing him to do hand seals or grasp weaponry, like the Kusanagi. His face is covered with the mouth/eye/vortex/thingy of Lavos to allow him some stronger attacks, such as a beam cannon or the Lavos Scream. When Naruto becomes more powerful, the spine-like armor will be capable of counterattacking automatically - something like an ultimate defense.

Lavos Scream  
(Koura Rabosu must be active)  
Like a massive wave of killing intent, the Scream can paralyze opponents with dreadful visions - sometimes of how unimportant in the universe an individual is or what happens when a Lavos nears the end of its life cycle.

Konoha Kenjutsu Styles

Basically, I decided to give a list of standard styles Konoha teaches that I made up for this story for those who like to keep track. Plus, I was bored.

The first eight styles are taught to Chuunin, but are also rarely taught in the Academy (with the exception of the **Fox** style, for obvious reasons).

**Crane** - Deflection and light attacks. Excels in defense.  
**Heron** - Precision attacks against vitals. Horrible defense, but good for taking the initiative.  
**Fox** - Precision and feints. Excellent for duels and crippling/capturing opponents. Defense consists of disarming moves. Still taught to Chuunin and ANBU.  
**Toad** - Defensive blocking and power strikes. Strength is that it is randomly slow and fast.  
**Tortoise** - Defensive blocking and deflection. Primary strength is its endurance - attacks only happen once opponent is worn down.  
**Monkey** - Speedy strikes as a distraction while taijutsu is employed to disarm/attack the opponent. Most adaptable of Konoha's Standard Kenjutsu Styles. Created by the Sarutobi Clan.  
**Tiger** - Powerful strikes designed to break bones - even when the attacks are blocked. Moderate defensive capability. Created by the Senju Clan.  
**Falcon** - Speed-based, using the sword point as the primary implement of attacking. Not much power behind attacks, but useful with poison-coated blades.

The following styles are non-standard, and aren't often taught in the Chuunin Training Program except when no other style fits.

**Snake** - Created by Orochimaru. Speed, feints, and precision infused with taijutsu. Negligible defense.  
**Boar** - Created by the Hatake Clan. With Kakashi's permission, this style is now taught to ANBU. Very fast, but also high defensive capabilities. Usable with blades as short as a standard kunai or as long as a standard katana.  
**Wolf** - Created by the Inuzuka Clan. Taught almost exclusively to Clan Members when they reach Chuunin. Wide, sweeping attacks useful against multiple opponents, but is truly powerful when teamwork (with Ninken or another ninja) is involved. Also has a moderate defense.  
**Deer** - Created by the Nara Clan. Employs a reverse-grip and usually involves a spinning or twirling motion. Best when used in conjunction with Clan Jutsu, but also taught to whomever wants to learn it.  
**Rat** - Usually taught to most Chuunin who take up the sword. Speed, precision, and deflection, employing fluid movements and stabbing motions. Easily used for assassination missions, and is highly adaptable and easily combined with other styles.

The following two styles are Jounin-level, and taught only in a master/apprentice relationship.

**Dragon** - Developed by the Hatake and Aburame Clans working together. Highly adaptable. Uses disarming moves, as well as maiming and killing strokes. High defense. Best when used in conjunction with the Aburame's kikaichu (destruction bugs), but still fairly effective otherwise. Requires immense muscle toning and training.  
**Dog** - Developed by the Sarutobi Clan and perfected by the Hatake Clan. Vicious and relentless attacks combined with the kawarimi and/or shunshin jutsu. Three masters are still alive: Kakashi, Hiruzen (the Sandaime Hokage), and Uchiha Itachi.

There are no masters of the **Ox** style still alive; the Nidaime Hokage was the last one to learn it. It involved breaking an opponent's weaponry or deflecting it, while stabbing or slicing through their armor. Embarrassingly, it was best employed by a master of the Suiken (drunken fist) taijutsu style (such as the Nidaime was).


	6. Zeal's Legacy

Tokikage

by Lord Dragon Claw

Disclaimer: Finding the space-time coordinates of least resistance is like looking for a needle in a haystack... in a quantum singularity.

Chapter Six: Zeal's Legacy

* * *

Shizune was a beautiful woman - there was no doubt about it. It would be less annoying if he didn't find her mind to be attractive - much less annoying if Lavos would stop needling him about it. The major problem was that Naruto's heart was fairly dead-set on Hinata.

At least Jiraiya hadn't really bothered the bronze-blonde about it - though he had written some scenes based off of his interactions with Shizune. And Tsunade thankfully pretended that she didn't notice. One must count their blessings after all.

* * *

Well, wasn't that interesting? The Namikaze Estate was actually separated from space-time via a blood seal hidden under the pavement of the (apparently) empty lot. The clones hadn't been able to see it until they were literally standing on it.

"The real us is going to want to see this," commented one shadow clone to another.

"Agreed," replied the other before dispelling.

The first clone went back to 'searching' the area for anything interesting before its ANBU Ne tail managed to find it again.

* * *

"Sorry I had to dispel on you Morino-san."

"Quite all right. I don't think I'd have the ability to sustain a shadow clone at that distance and fight such powerful adversaries at the same time."

The Naruto clone paused. "I dispelled the clones to reabsorb their chakra, not because I couldn't keep them going."

Ibiki dropped his clipboard in shock.

The clone scratched the back of his head. "I suppose I've done the impossible... again."

* * *

Naruto left a clone with Jiraiya, Shizune, and Tsunade when he had the chance. The discovery of the Namikaze Estate was a huge find and deserved to be explored by the rightful heir in person. All of his father's research, the artifacts that his parents left behind, everything that was his inheritance was sealed into a pocket of space-time separate from the continuum and there for the taking if one could unravel the seals.

Or travel through time.

It took a simple gate to get into the mansion, bypassing his father's immensely complex and hidden seal array with but a flexing of his chi.

He was able to see everything but the interior of the vault attached to the back of the place as soon as he arrived, including one of Jiraiya's older novels, containing a character named Naruto - Lavos brought that to the forefront of his attention (the old eldritch horror was a big softie at times). His mother's things were well-preserved, and there was even a nursery set up for for baby Naruto after his birth. These brought tears to Naruto's eyes.

The family he had never had... they had wanted him. They had been excited to have him. They had even expected to give him siblings if all the books about increasing fertility were any indication.

Naruto cried for what must have been days in that timeless place. He mourned the loss of his family and the things never to be.

Eventually, he got up and went to find a way into the vault, the obvious location of his father's research and jutsu library.

* * *

"Halt!" commanded one of the guards to the Hyuuga Clan Compound.

The Naruto clone bowed.

"What business do you have here?"

"Is Neji in?"

"We are under orders to not allow you within the Compound in any way. You have brought enough dishonor to the Hyuuga Clan as it stands."

The shadow clone shrugged and walked off, his job of distracting most of the Hyuuga with his presence done while another one gated Neji out.

* * *

"I see you wished to speak with me, Naruto-san."

"Obviously, else I would not have kidnapped you. Did you know that everyone is under orders not to let me near Hinata or you, or be near the Clan Compound?"

Neji nodded before taking a sip of his tea. "The transfer will be difficult if done on foot."

The shadow clone nodded. "That's why I'm going to do what I did with you just now. Do you have a comprehensive list of those going with us?"

"Just eleven names so far," Neji replied, handing over a privacy-sealed canister normally used for intelligence dead drops.

Naruto nodded as he took the canister. "Keep me posted. I will contact you again in two days."

* * *

The door to the vault took him days to crack, but the passage of time within the seal was distorted. Outside of the seal, only a few minutes had passed.

Naruto had to make more than a hundred clones just to memorize all of the scrolls, notes, and diagrams. Lavos kept busy trying to sort the information and organize it into memory packets which could later be sent to his host in small bursts.

Very soon all of his father's knowledge was his, or would be in the very near future.

He also knew that the Hiraishin no jutsu was one that would remain unique to his father, as Namikaze Minato had a knack for connecting his spirit to the specially-attuned kunai to allow him to reverse-summon himself. But Naruto didn't need to do that as he had the ability to gate; he just needed the theoretical knowledge for what he was planning.

Shikamaru seemed to know that it was a Naruto clone that was lying on the ground next to him without having to check. Both of them had been staring at the clouds in the sky for a few minutes before Shikamaru broke the silence.

"Only a few of the Yamanakas are going to go with you, Naruto. None from my clan, and none from Chouji's."

The clone grunted to tell him that the message was received.

* * *

"YOSH! TEAM GUY ACCEPTS YOUR YOUTHFUL INVITATION!"

"Agreed," Tenten concurred. "With the condition that Tsunade cures Lee before we go."

"I'll get her to work on that as soon as we get back to Konoha."

Later, Guy found a Naruto clone to tell him that he agreed to go to the new village for a multitude of reasons, but particularly because he didn't want to see Naruto's new hidden village transform into a similar cesspool of corruption that Konoha was slowly transforming into, or that Yukigakure no Sato (Ninja Village Hidden in Snow) and Amegakure no Sato (Ninja Village Hidden in Rain) had both already become.

They discussed the ANBU Ne briefly before the clone dispelled itself.

* * *

Sixty-two years prior Lavos ceased to watch the surface world. Wary of creating a paradox, Naruto went back only sixty years to Wave to prepare for his master plan. He had to learn and experiment with a great number of seals but didn't have much time in the present to do so... In the past however…

There was a lot for him to figure out after all:  
How to combine Zealian Skyway technology with seals;  
How to link it to the time-space coordinates of least resistance for the local causality, known in slang as "the End of Time";  
How to create a whole continent and climate for things to live and thrive;  
How to apply a permanent genjutsu to make it seem like the continent existed in the sky, and received sunlight;  
How to synchronize the timeflow of that place with the real world;  
How to warp space and disguise the distortion around the real-world Skyway to hide it from view;  
How to create a Mammon Machine to siphon power off of Lavos to sustain the whole thing;  
Where to find a great deal of Dreamstone to build the Mammon Machine and several of the three-dimensional seal arrays.

Naruto's work was cut out for him.

Luckily he had the help of Lavos and the seven generations preceding him as experience in these matters. Even the memories and technologies available to the First contributed greatly.

Naruto had to work as fast and as covertly as possible, so as to avoid drawing the attention of any S-ranked opponents or, worse yet, that of past-Lavos before he was sealed.

* * *

Only two days after her inauguration as the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade already knew that things had been too quiet in regards to the bronze-blonde. Even her master, Sarutobi Hiruzen, thought something was odd in that regard.

And then one of Naruto's gates appeared in the office where they were discussing paperwork.

"Anything we can do for you, Naruto-kun?" asked the Sandaime.

"Yeah," he replied absently. "You can hammer out a peace treaty with me."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... the HELL!"

* * *

"It has been fun working with you, Ibiki-san."

As the clone dispersed, the head of the Konoha ANBU Department of Torture and Interrogation massaged his temples. He now knew what the kid was planning. He knew it could not be stopped. And he knew the necessity of it. He just wished it wouldn't cause such a migraine in the days to come.

Well, at least he got to see what would become of the boy who had the balls to call his bluff during the first part of the Chuunin Exams when he had a _blank answer sheet_. Not many people got to meet someone who was going to be the Shodai Kage of a new village after all.

* * *

"You little brat!" Tsunade screamed. "I came back because of you and now _you're leaving!_"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You came back for such a flimsy reason? What if I died? What if I were to be crippled beyond your ability to heal? What then?" He grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the desk to the window. "And what about them?" He asked, gesturing towards the whole of Konoha before pointing to a specific building. "What about the Hospital?"

She spat. "Most of them are just sheep, especially because of how they treated you."

The bronze-blonde chuckled darkly. "And I suppose that I got all depressed and homicidal like the Jinchuuriki of Suna did? There are good people amongst them - some of them just don't know it. They need someone to protect them from wolves like Danzou. Tsunade-baa-chan, I'll be counting on you to protect the ideals which spawned people like the Fourth Hokage; like me; like Hokage-jiji; like many of the Inuzuka; and the Akimichi; the Aburame; and all the others."

She found herself swept up in his words and looked back to see her master smiling.

Naruto continued, drawing the older blonde's attention. "I am leaving to give myself and others whom I care about a fresh start. All the rest of the sheep need a strong shepherd to guard them. In five minutes my plan will come to fruition and the new village, Tokigakure no Sato, will be populated."

Releasing her arm, Naruto stepped backwards into a new gate. "I will be back to hammer out the alliance sometime soon. Or rather, a clone will."

"And to think…" muttered Sarutobi, causing Tsunade to turn to him. "It was his dream to be the next Hokage, and he used to be somewhat petulant about it. I never thought he'd turn out to be quite _this_ ambitious."

* * *

True to his word, everyone whom Naruto wanted to take and was willing to go disappeared from Konoha not even five minutes after his talk with Tsunade. Only the best-trained eyes caught the transition. A gate materialized, several sets of arms belonging to bronze-blonde shadow clones grabbed the people nearby, and everything involved disappeared, all of which took less than a second. A split-second later and the belongings of everyone who was "abducted" also vanished in the same manner. The final phase of this mass exodus was a clone of the bronze-blonde standing on every corner of every building, all speaking in unison.

"ATTENTION KONOHA. THE PEOPLE WHO JUST DISAPPEARED HAVE BECOME PART OF A NEW HIDDEN VILLAGE, TOKI, WHICH IS LOCATED IN WAVE COUNTRY. ANY PEOPLE LOOKING FOR A FRESH START WILL BE WELCOMED. ALL PEOPLE LOOKING TO HARM THE NEW VILLAGE AND/OR ANYONE IN IT WILL BE ANNIHILATED. THAT IS ALL."

With that, all the clones dispersed. And there was much hysteria when a sizeable chunk of the population was found to be missing.

* * *

Hiashi was honestly not surprised when nearly eighty percent of the Branch House of the Hyuuga Clan were among those taken to Tokigakure no Sato. Neither was he surprised when the Elders of the Main House wished to have a meeting on the subject.

One of the Elders got the confirmation from his sources that Hinata and Neji were among the missing. While saddened Hiashi wasn't the slightest bit surprised. And he was somewhat annoyed that the Elders hadn't seen this coming. He had a feeling that, given enough time, the rift between Main and Branch would grow too vast and that the Branch members would leave at the first given opportunity. What was more; Uzumaki Naruto probably had the means to shield them from the activation of the Caged Bird Seal, or even remove it.

* * *

Danzou was pissed. It looked like nearly seventy percent of his ANBU Ne forces had been wiped out during the instantaneous migration. It seemed that as a gift to the new Hokage, the bronze-blonde brat had killed many of his agents. And not a single person who wasn't a member of Ne had been subject to attack.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Hokage Tower, Jiraiya met with Tsunade and their master to give his report on the people who died during the exodus.

"Apparently," the Toad Sage began. "Naruto wanted to get rid of a bunch of ninja he was certain you wouldn't be able to trust on his way out."

The Sandaime caught on before the blonde Sannin did. "That wily prankster!"

Tsunade turned to him and gestured for him to elaborate.

"He did this as a peace-offering to start negotiations! How much _have_ you taught him, Jiraiya?"

"Honestly?" began a bronze-blonde as he exited a newly formed gate. "Just how to lip-read, a few jutsu, quite a bit about fuuinjutsu, and some kenjutsu. Everything else was learned from books that I memorized with the activation of my bloodline."

All three older ninja jumped at Naruto's entrance.

"You've got to stop doing that!" Tsunade yelled.

"I refuse," the bronze-blond retorted. "Anyway, today I am just a clone as the real me hasn't had much time to recover from taking everyone to Tokigakure no Sato, much less building it for the past sixty years."

The Professor and the two Sannin in the room gaped like fish for a moment before Jiraiya managed to recover first.

"What the hell!"

The clone laughed. "Time travel, fuuinjutsu, and technology lost to the ages make a lot of things possible." At their stunned silence, he added: "Did I mention that I want Jiraiya to be the official liaison between Konoha and Toki?"

* * *

Backtracking to the exodus, the entire population of Wave, as well as several hundred civilians from Konoha and a much larger percentage of their ninja forces suddenly found themselves in a different place.

In the middle of the mass of people Naruto sat on a very massive sword sticking out of the ground. Most there recognized it as Momochi Zabuza's Kubikiri Honchou (which many of the Wave citizens had seen when they visited the grave in the real world and many of the ninja knew from the Bingo Book), but the more unsettling thing was the bronze-blonde perched atop the cleft between the hilt and the back end of the blade. He was older than all the attendees remembered him being. He stood at a hefty 190 cm - much taller than his undernourished twelve-year-old body did. He wore blue and white robes while wearing a Kage hat. Instead of one of the normal elemental kanjithe hat had the one for "time" on it - Toki. He had forgone wearing his sunglasses, opting instead to let everyone see his bloodline in all its glory, though they were left hanging over the neckline of his robes with one of the earpieces.

"Welcome," Naruto began, though by the tone of his voice it was obvious he was exhausted. "This is Wave as it shall be forevermore. As you are the first citizens of the newly-instated Tokigakure no Sato, you will all get first pick as to which building you will get to live in. Your personal belongings and equipment will be transported to your new abodes as you choose them. Ask a clone for specifics and what limits there are so there will be no useless squabbling.

"As you can see, I am sitting on the grave marker for Momochi Zabuza and Haku, both of whom I have moved to the new land of Wave, so they will not be destroyed in the space-time distortion that exists where the old land of Wave once was. I would appreciate it if no one desecrates their graves.

"Within a few days all the old trading and shipping businesses will be able to function at full capacity again.

"There will be no missions for a while, so all ninja are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the territory and/or train while the Council, comprised of preselected members and I, hash out the organization structure. You may stumble upon some strange creatures; those are summons called Nus, and I have invited them to live here with us. Treat them like you would another human being. Or better than you treat people, considering those among company present."

Mitarashi Anko's voice could be heard yelling something along the lines of "you're no fun".

"Our village is better protected than any other fortress or ninja village, present or past, especially since I've decided to take the name of our village, Tokigakure no Sato, the Ninja Village Hidden in Time, very literally. But that does not mean that the land is without its dangers. When you find the drop-off do not try to walk down the side of it to see how far it goes. This land is literally flying above a pit of nothingness that leads back to the real world... but no living thing would survive the fall. And the bottom of this land is covered in a network of seals that would sap a near-fatal amount of chakra out of you anyway, so don't try it. And as our population increases so will the size of the landmass we live on - don't be surprised if that happens."

Pointing to a nearby mountain which had a castle/palace perched atop it, Naruto continued.

"That will be my place of residence as well as the government center of our land. The Hyuuga are welcome to live there with me."

Sighing, Naruto got down off of Zabuza's sword. "That about covers it for now. If you will all excuse me, I'm going to pass out in my bedchambers. Might Guy, I'm leaving you in charge in case anything comes up."

With that, Naruto gated to his bedroom, fell down on his bed, and passed out.

* * *

In the center of the landmass was a lake, which had a large stone structure sitting in the middle. Inside the large cavity of that was a permanently-open gate, allowing one-way access to the waters around Wave in the real world. As a law, no fisherman or merchant was allowed to sail through the gate unless at least one Nu was aboard that was capable of reverse-summoning them and their ship back to the lake.

In a field near Toki proper was a temple-like structure that the Nus called a Skyway. It proved to be a two-way portal to the Great Naruto Bridge in the real world with both ends guarded by Nus. Additionally, the side of the bridge that made landfall on Fire Country soil was also guarded by Nus. As a final defence the Skyway could be closed off, cutting off all access to the real world.

Feeling safe and secure, the civilians took to calling the old land of Wave simply Wave, whereas they ironically began calling the new land of Wave by the name of Zeal. Naruto had no end of headaches when he figured out what they were calling it, especially since Lavos wouldn't shut up about how amusing it was.

Tazuna wasn't helping either. The drunk-turned-daimyo didn't understand why Naruto kept smacking himself in the forehead with his palm whenever someone brought up the new name, but he found it to be funny and encouraged the populace to call it Zeal.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke was not a very introspective person, and he admitted this to himself, but the events of the past week had forced him to think very hard.

Honestly, Konoha was far too weak after the Oto/Suna Invasion. Then they were weakened further by Naruto creating the new Hidden Village and spiriting away everyone that he wanted in it. Konoha simply wasn't a viable option for acquiring power anymore.

Unless, of course, he had the patience to learn from Tsunade. But he simply didn't have the empathy he thought he needed to learn medical jutsu nor did he have the inclination to learn. So that left him with three options.

One, he could run off to Oto and be trained by Orochimaru; although the thought of the snake man potentially possessing him made him rather uncomfortable. His second option was to look for the third Sannin, Jiraiya, and bribe him into training him.

_That seemed to be as likely as pigs who could... as being struck by lightning twice in... __You know what?_ Sasuke thought. _Anything I can think of has probably happened or will happen if Naruto is in the vicinity._

That left him with the third option: Naruto. He'd have to apologize and beg - not exactly his modus operandi, but it beat being violated on a spiritual level by Orochimaru - but he could swallow his pride long enough to do so.

Sasuke knew that he wouldn't probably be able to kill his brother himself, but as long as Itachi died violently it didn't matter to him. And he had to seek shelter from Orochimaru soon, because it seemed like Kakashi's seal was weakening by the day. Also, didn't Jiraiya spend a lot of time around Naruto anyway? He might not be able to get any training out of him, but he'd probably do a better job with sealing the curse than the silver-haired Jounin had done.

Maybe Kakashi would like to go along. Sakura definitely would jump at the chance to go with her beloved "Sasuke-kun" if asked, but the kunoichi was stuck in "fangirl mode".

_You know what? If Kakashi wants to come, he can decide that on his own. I know Naruto used to like Sakura, but he became rather distant with her after the Chuunin Exams. It would probably be best if I leave her out of it. Onward to Wave...__ Again._

His decision made Sasuke began packing his stuff and sealing his family's jutsu and technique scrolls, especially the ones sealed against dojutsu, into a storage scroll as a peace offering to his former teammate.

* * *

End Chapter Six.

Next chapter: Sasuke's arrival and Anko's memory.

Author's Notes

This was a pain in the butt to write at points.

Thank you Dumbledork for being my quick-draw beta reader (who also helped with the _flow_ of the words as well as the spelling, grammar, and plothole mistakes).

And honestly, I am tired of Sasuke turning out to be either the best thing since sliced bread or an incompetent asshole. I'll go for a middle ground thing. Also, that scene wrote itself. Since it does not interfere with my plans for the story, I am not too choked up about its existence.

Merry Christmas. For those of you who don't celebrate Christmas, then I hope the 25th of December is a good day for you anyway.


	7. Cursed Seals

Tokikage

by Lord Dragon Claw

Disclaimer: fuuinjutsu is not for amateurs.

Chapter Seven: Cursed Seals

* * *

Sasuke found Kakashi waiting at the exact point of the wall he was using to flee Konoha.

"Leaving?" asked the silver-haired Jounin.

Sasuke nodded. "My home can no longer protect me from Orochimaru or Itachi, and I will be unable to grow strong enough to stop either one if I stay here. And if I wait here, eventually the seal will make going to the snake man my most appealing prospect."

"Where will you go?"

"To Naruto."

Kakashi didn't make a move to stop him as he leapt over the wall and disappeared into the forest, moving in the direction of Wave.

* * *

"Well, I have concluded that Orochimaru is an amateur."

Anko looked up at Naruto, the _real_ one that looked like he was twenty-five, and raised her eyebrow in askance.

"Your seal is still going to take me a week to figure out how to remove it, or fix it, but I can see some connections that were never made between some of the minor seals. Also, some seals were connected together _that never should have been_. No wonder his Cursed Seals had a ninety-percent fatality rate."

"Wait... 'fix it'?"

"Yeah," said the bronze-blonde, scratching the back of his head. "As an alternative to removing the seal, I can fix it up to the point where you can use it as a secondary chakra source. No pain, no possessions, no fragment of Orochimaru's soul, no body-alteration-causing toxins. Just a chakra battery for you to use whenever you need it."

She grinned. She was also a little turned on by what the Tokikage was telling her. She didn't care that he was using her to work his way up to removing the Caged Bird Seals from the Hyuuga that came here, she just cared that he was going to remove Orochimaru's hold over her. But she wanted to straddle him and ride him _hard_.

"Well, I've memorized your seal, so I can work on it without you here. Now, for the other half of my end of the bargain..."

"A new summoning contract," she purred.

* * *

Naruto did his crazy 'gate'-thing and a lizard-thing fell out. It was short and wore a combination of armor, robes, and a high-collar dress. And it promptly hit Naruto in the face with a ball of fire cast from its hand.

Anko giggled. "The moment he gave me a description of the Reptites I knew we'd get along _just fine_."

The lizard/person turned to her when it saw that it had merely covered Naruto's face with soot and only caused him to flinch, instead of getting him to scream.

"Great. More hairless apes. I am Azala, Reptite Queen. Who are you?"

"Mitarashi Anko. I've signed the Snake Summoning Contract, but most of the big-wigs on it hate me because Orochimaru told them to."

Azala turned to Naruto.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, the Tokikage. I am the Nu Summoner and a direct descendant of the Red Star."

The lizard-woman gasped. "The... Red Star? I-"

"Don't worry," interrupted the bronze-blonde. "I am merely amused by you striking out at me. But please, let Anko-chan sign your Contract."

Anko blushed a little at the suffix Naruto used, but grinned when Azala nodded hurriedly - apparently the Queen saw the implied threat in Naruto's words. A large scroll appeared out of nowhere and landed in front of the purple-haired Jounin.

"We Reptites have some stipulations for when you summon us. With the exception of Nizbel, the Tyrannos, and myself, we are stunned by electricity and lightning. Please keep that in mind. Also, we love to fight, and the lower-level summons are particularly bloodthirsty as we haven't been summoned in the past three-hundred years. Nizbel and I are the only two capable of subtlety. All Reptites can stand the cold, but not for protracted periods. That is all you need to know."

Seeing that Anko had finished signing the contract, Azala nodded, snapped her fingers, and was gone. The scroll was gone as well.

The purple-haired Jounin turned to Naruto. "So, what's this business about a 'Red Star'? I could _hear_ the capital letters in that phrase."

* * *

"Uchiha Sasuke has left the village, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said, sounding like a person resigned to execution.

Tsunade, instead of attacking him, interlaced her fingers in front of herself and leaned back in her chair. "And you didn't go with him because... ?"

"I didn't stop him be-" Kakashi halted, mid-sentence. That wasn't what she asked. "I stayed here because I have a duty to the Village and, by extension, the Hokage."

Tsunade stared at him for a second. "That's a load of bull. Tell me the real reason."

The silver-haired Jounin sighed. "He doesn't need me anymore. Certainly, I could teach him more jutsu, but the sense of safety... Konoha just can't offer him that anymore. I can't guarantee his safety with me near him. I'm just glad he's turning to his teammate after all this time."

"You could still go with him."

"No. I think Naruto was making a point when he excluded me from his plans of building Tokigakure no Sato. He's exchanged me for Jiraiya, and I'm happy for him."

Tsunade finally accepted that as an answer.

* * *

Naruto grinned sheepishly as he explained that the Kyuubi wasn't inside of him and that the fox was indeed dead having been killed by Lavos the day of the Kyuubi attack.

Anko nodded at his explaination. "Makes sense then."

Turning, she summoned a single, low-level Reptite while Naruto walked off.

"I want to spar!" she declared, attacking the lizardman.

"DEAL!" roared the Reptite in agreement, catching her fist.

She twisted, trying to kick the ancient life-form in the jaw, but he caught her leg with his other foreclaw. His tail wrapped around her other leg and pulled it out from under her. She placed her free hand on the ground and stuck it with chakra, then used her downward momentum to flip the Reptite over herself, smashing his head into the ground. Flopping onto his back, the lizardman laughed.

"You are going to be so much more fun than our last summoner!"

* * *

Sasuke was one day away from Tazuna's bridge when he saw a merchant caravan being attacked by bandits. Palming his face at the stupidity of the merchants for not hiring ninja, Sasuke decided to help as it was obvious that they were also headed to Wave. Getting on Naruto's good side by helping these idiots wasn't a bad idea.

Deciding not to do anything flashy, Sasuke palmed a shuriken and hurled it at the bandit leader's head, killing him instantly. Pandemonium quickly spread among the bandits, many of them running off in random directions. The few who still had the balls to stick around and try and take hostages usually found their guts or eyes or throats replaced with a well-placed shuriken or kunai. When the last bandit went down, Sasuke slowly and calmly walked towards the merchant leader.

"Looks like you could use a ninja escort," Sasuke offered to the merchant leader.

"I... I suppose so," she replied, sighing. "How much will we owe your village? ... And which village? Konoha?"

"Not Konoha, no," replied the last Uchiha. "I'm also on my way to Wave and it's no charge this time. But next time, get a ninja team to escort you." By the end, Sasuke sounded like he was chastising a little kid.

At least the merchant leader had enough common sense to be embarrassed.

* * *

Sasuke raised his eyebrow at the site that presented itself to them at the bridge. A large, bulbous blue creature stood to one side of the bridge, and a yellow one stood to the other, both guarding the bridge. The dark-haired youth decided to go ahead of the merchants in case they were dangerous.

"Halt!" commanded the yellow one when Sasuke got close enough.

Sasuke stopped.

"Ye who would cross the Great Naruto Bride must answer me these questions three, or the other side ye ne'er see. Nuuuuu."

Raising his eyebrow at the odd creature, and at the name of the bridge, Sasuke saw no harm in answering the questions.

"Ask me your questions."

The creature either nodded or lost its balance on its spindly legs, but Sasuke wasn't sure.

"What is your name?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Nuuuuu. What is your purpose in coming to Wave?"

"I seek sanctuary from my enemies."

"What is that thing on your neck?"

"A cursed seal given to me by one of my enemies. I was hoping the Tokikage could remove it."

"Nuuuuu, off you go then."

Blinking, Sasuke asked the obvious question. "What about the merchants?"

The blue one answered this time. "They'll all have to answer the Bridge Keeper's questions. Nuuuuu, he can see the truth through any lie as well as their reason for lying. Everyone has to answer the questions so we can ferret out spies or else they don't get in, nuuuuu."

Sasuke nodded. He then waved the merchants over and began crossing the bridge.

"Halt!" he heard the yellow creature command when the first merchant got close enough. Knowing that it would take some time for all the merchants to be interrogated by the creatures, Sasuke kept going to scout ahead.

* * *

Only sixty-three ANBU Ne agents remained. That figure included Danzou. The only ones not dead were the ones that had been tattooed with a tree and a number on their left shoulders. And those were the older agents! The ones who were _not_ emotionally dead!

It was obvious that the Uzumaki boy was making a statement: "I know who all of your agents are and can pick them off at my leisure. Do not anger the Hokage or myself and you can keep them."

Danzou was deeply troubled by this. He was even more troubled when one of his messenger agents brought him a simple slip of folded paper. It was addressed to the old warhawk.

It read:  
_Evening Gimpy,  
No doubt you must have realized by now that your only remaining agents are the ones with tattoos. Do not allow any harm to come to Tsunade-baa-chan and I may allow you to keep them. Anger me and they die._

_Sincerely,  
Uzumaki Naruto  
Shodai Tokikage_

The one-eyed old man was shaking like a leaf.

"He can read minds..." muttered Danzou.

* * *

Of course, Naruto couldn't really read minds, but Jiraiya dictated the note so that the man's mind was thoroughly messed with. That was one of the things handled at the treaty negotiation.

After all the preliminary parts had been hammered out, Naruto and Jiraiya used a gate to go back to Tokigakure. Naruto wanted more training and Jiraiya wanted to take a peek at the seal work.

* * *

Sasuke walked through the mist. Wave had certainly become much more foggy since the last time he had been there. Still, the bridge was quite long. Seemed longer that he remembered it.

The bridge led right to a building. Odd.

He entered it and found it to be quite ornate. How did Wave pay for all this opulence? Even the floor seemed to radiate light!

Four massive stone pillars held the ceiling to the building in its place, and the walls had some sort of crest on them. It looked very much like a person, but with no face or features. Nor did it have legs, just a single tail-like protrusion at the bottom.

All sorts of seals seemed to be inscribed into the floor and the pillars and were inlayed with a silvery metal. A circular set of seals was set in the center of the floor with a pillar of white light coming down and illuminating it. Considering that the floor looked like it was made out of a solid, wall-to-wall blue jewel, it seemed the floor's glow was merely that shaft of light refracted back into the room.

As Sasuke stepped into the column of light, the blue color of the floor suddenly changed color to red and the shaft of light turned blue. Thinking that it was a trap, Sasuke turned to run when a bright flash of light occurred.

The merchants did not find him inside the building when they entered it thirty minutes later.

* * *

When Sasuke's sight had cleared, he found himself standing in a replica of the floor he had seen, except it was green. Another column of white light came down onto the central, circular seal array, but it came from a clear sky. There was no building, though the four pillars were still represented.

Then Sasuke saw where this replica was - in an island in the middle of a relatively small pond near the edge of what appeared to be a plateau. He ran across the wide stone bridge and ran to the edge to have a look. Even though his Sharingan was inactive, the image he saw would remain with him until the end of his days.

What he thought was a plateau was actually a massive continent _floating in the sky_! He could see the ocean below, and the Great Naruto Bridge. He could see the merchant caravan but it was puny. He couldn't really see the people as they were smaller than ants. And he could see the island of Wave, shrouded in fog. Between the continent and the world below, the clouds drifted by lazily.

When a Naruto shadow clone, who looked just like the dobe from his memories, came to get him two minutes later, he was still staring at the sight.

* * *

Jiraiya was surprised when he met the real Naruto. The boy was now a man of twenty-five, and was taller than the Sannin! At first Jiraiya was startled.

Then he laughed. "Gaki, Tsunade's going to flip when she sees you like this."

"Hence why I use shadow clones henge'd into my younger self as aides."

Jiraiya looked over his shoulder at one of the shadow clones then turned and walked over to it. He waved his hand above its head.

"Naruto, this is no normal henge. Henge is actually a genjutsu that mimics your body movements exactly."

"Yeah," replied the real Naruto, leaning to his right and propping his head up with a fist. "My tenant explained that to me. One of the subtle ways in which he changed my DNA while he was slumbering was to allow my molecular structure to be a little more malleable. Hence when I had to figure out how to do a henge on my own, I accidentally created a jutsu only I can use that actually transforms me into whatever shape I want with the correct color pigments and everything. The only problem with it is that when I change into..." He paused to scratch the back of his head with his left hand in thought. "... let's say, a rock, you could smack me and it would feel like flesh."

Jiraiya stared at him for a moment.

"STOP DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE! ... Please!"

* * *

"The real me is in a meeting with Jiraiya of the Sannin," informed the clone.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in reply. "I wanted to speak to both of them anyway, so it is fine by me."

"Ah, you want help with removing Orochimaru's seal."

The dark-haired youth nodded in response. The clone nodded back.

They were in what the clone had called a waiting room, but it seemed to be rather opulent, with designs that appeared to be some form of seals. The faceless crest motif was also prevalent. The heavy oak double-doors had a huge version of the crest on them that was completed when the doors were closed. The single stained-glass window that took up an entire wall had a scene depicting some sort of spiny monstrosity exploding out of the earth. Sasuke found it a little disconcerting.

They had entered using a gate, obviously the jutsu that once again allowed Naruto to teleport around.

The doors began to creak and the clone smiled and said, "Allow me to introduce: me."

This new Naruto was much _taller_. Almost two meters tall by Sasuke's best guess. He was still wearing those shades of his, but he also wore a Kage hat. His blue and white robes were worn loosely, and it was obvious to Sasuke's eyes that they wouldn't get in the way in a fight.

Sasuke snorted once he had taken all of it in.

"Amused?" Naruto asked, cocking his head. "Jiraiya was absolutely flabbergasted."

"It's the hat," retorted Sasuke, pointing at his own head for emphasis. "So determined to wear a Kage hat that you made your own Hidden Village just so you could wear one."

The bronze-blonde laughed. "Well, when you put it that way, it does seem rather childish, doesn't it?"

They had sat down at the small table in the center of the room - an exquisite thing made of polished, black marble.

"So what happened to you?" asked the Uchiha.

"Time travel. Had to build the entire continent myself. Why are you here, Sasuke?"

"I want a 'fresh start'. I need to be able to hide from people like Orochimaru and my brother until I am capable of defending myself. Konoha was no longer a viable option."

"I did kind of gut that place, didn't I?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

"I heard about those merchants you protected." Naruto leaned forward and rested his chin on the bridge his hands made. "That helps you, yes, but it does not make up for the years of ridicule."

Sasuke scratched his head sheepishly. "I don't think there's anything I can do to undo that. Honestly, I was going to try bribing my way in with the Uchiha Clan jutsu library."

"What would I want with that?"

"It has all the jutsu my family has stolen over the years."

Naruto nodded. "That helps your cause. Any other reason why I should let you stay? Perhaps something more substantial?"

Sasuke sat there, staring at the center of the table for several minutes before responding.

"I... I don't want to be alone. Of all the people I have met, I consider you to be my best friend."

Naruto leaned back and opened his mouth, but Sasuke interrupted him.

"And unfortunately, for me to acquire the Mangekyou Sharingan, I have to kill my best friend."

"... why would you tell me this?"

Sasuke hunched forward. "Because killing you would make me like my brother."

Several more minutes passed without anything other than the sound of breathing penetrating the room. When Sasuke finally looked up, Naruto was smiling.

"You told me one of your darkest secrets. You are letting me in, Sasuke. I will not betray that by keeping you out of my village."

Sasuke stared at Naruto. "That just sounds corny."

"Yeah, I agree. So you want that Seal removed, eh?"

The dark-haired youth nodded.

"You remember Mitarashi Anko? The snake lady from the Exams?"

"Yes."

Naruto leaned back in his seat. "She's got one too. Older. Less advanced. I can use hers as a stepping stone to the removal of yours. And both of yours will be stepping stones to the removal of Neji's Caged Bird Seal."

Sasuke nodded. "Hn."

* * *

"And this, Ero-sensei, is the Mammon Machine."

The clone led Jiraiya into a chamber where a massive statue made of red stone floated freely in the center of a pit. Waves of energy seemed to flow through the air. Seals on the pillars surrounding the pit in the center of the chamber glowed with a pulsating light. The statue itself appeared to be a person but without a face or features. The legs were similarly nonexistent but with a tail-like protrusion at the bottom.

"What does it do?" asked the old seal master.

"It draws power directly from my tenant and distributes the refined energy all over the continent. It powers everything. Literally."

"Those crests I've been seeing - they are mock-ups of that machine, aren't they?"

"They are. They help with the transfer of energy."

* * *

The removal of Anko's seal took several hours once Naruto had it figured out. Apparently, it was also excruciatingly painful. Sasuke insisted on watching the removal process.

While Anko was still panting from her screams, the young Uchiha approached Naruto.

"Is my removal process going to be as painful?" he asked.

"Nope," replied the Tokikage, eliciting a sigh of relief from the raven-haired ninja. "About three times as painful as hers."

"Hn," grunted Sasuke, resigned to his fate.

About an hour later, Anko was finally aware enough to speak. Sasuke had left to speak with Jiraiya and explore the castle.

"Sea Country," rasped the exhausted snake mistress. "They're experimenting on people in Sea Country to make special aquatic ninja."

The bronze-blonde raised his eyebrow. "How do you know this?"

"Some of the memories I had were sealed away into the seal when I turned my back on Orochimaru."

"Ah."

Anko's eyes began to tear up and she choked out a sob. This caused Naruto to panic slightly.

"What's the matter! Were there other seals hidden away on you?"

She shook her head. "No. All this time I thought he had abandoned me."

The Tokikage tilted his head slightly as she wiped her eyes.

"But what really happened was that I left him. I'm so happy!"

She surprised Naruto with her speed when she grabbed his collar with both hands and yanked him on top of her. He was stunned further when she shoved her tongue down his throat.

* * *

End Chapter Seven.

Next chapter: of fish people and machines.

Author's Notes

I'm pretty sure Anko would do that sort of thing to the man who removed her seal, no matter how painful it was.

I hope I made the exchange between Naruto and Sasuke believable. What I'm going to do with him is going to be awesome and will make a lot of sense.

Praise be to Dumbledork for beta'ing for me.


	8. Promethean

Tokikage

by Lord Dragon Claw

Disclaimer: go discover a hobby.

Chapter Eight: Promethean

* * *

Sasuke met with that crazy lady that Naruto removed the cursed seal from. She had apparently taken it upon herself to train Sasuke until the real Naruto came back from his expedition to Sea Country - a small chain of islands to the South of Mist and to the East-by-Northeast of what used to be Wave. Wave was Zeal now, or at least, that was what the old drunk Tazuna claimed its name was.

Anko pushed Sasuke to his physical limits, didn't give him breaks, and had some really annoying ideas on the Sharingan.

"It is really just another tool. A very useful tool, but a mere tool nonetheless," she lectured.

He tried to harrumph but had to dodge a kunai aimed at his left eye.

"You're going to learn this fact even if it kills you!" the madwoman stated.

His reply was to throw a kunai back at her.

* * *

Naruto paid his way aboard one of the ships bound for Sea Country, but not before haggling the price down. He was under Henge to look like a brown-haired man and his distinctive eyes were hidden by a genjutsu. He had to keep reapplying the genjutsu due to the fact that his eyes automatically tried to unravel the illusion and dispel it.

In fact, the only reason why he could do the genjutsu at all was because Anko had showed him how to change his eyes to a nondescript brown with a specialized illusion. That was the only genjutsu he could cast. Period. And that was only because his eyes copied the chakra construct to the letter.

He had tried to develop some of his own genjutsu, but with strange results. Because he saw the world differently from everyone else, his illusions had the annoying habit of failing spetacularly. For example, trying to change the aforementioned genjutsu so that he could have blue eyes worked... until he moved. Or blinked. It became immediately apparent that they were illusionary because the blue eyes stayed in place when Naruto moved his head or took a step in any direction.

The bronze-blond figured it was a lost cause to figure out how to do genjutsu on his own and that he should just accept the fact that he was stuck with copying the delicate chakra constructs that other people had created. Still, Naruto wondered what would happen if Itachi tried to trap him in a Tsukuyomi. Did the Uchiha traitor have to make eye contact from his end? Did Naruto's Rabosugan cause eye contact by the nature of its abilities? And why hadn't the range of his vision extended in the past four years? Lavos wasn't very forthcoming with information.

The Tokikage's mind raced as he settled in his cramped cabin on the vessel bound for Sea Country.

* * *

Lavos was amused by its host's plight. The poor man had no idea what the true limitations of the Rabosugan were, or what each stage represented.

Naruto didn't quite understand the motives behind his tenant's actions, and so passed it off as boredom whenever someone pressed for information. The bronze-blond was a very good actor and had convinced nearly everyone of the lie he told them.

Yes, Lavos was bored, but that was only half of the truth. Hardwired into the thought processes of the eldritch being was the urge to improve and evolve. Eternally stuck inside of a human's soul, the parasite knew that escape meant instant death. With a lack of progeny, all evolutions acquired throughout the millennia by this Lavos would be worthless if it died before it could reproduce.

Because the eldritch being could see through Naruto's eyes, he could see the seal. It had a greater understanding of seals than its host did; it could see the fail-safes within the seal keeping it trapped within Naruto's form. Any successful escape would result in an immediate termination of the host. The life of the tenant was inextricably tied to the host, regardless of whether the tenant was inside the host or not. Escape meant instant annihilation. Freedom meant death. Absolute possession counted as a form of escape to the seal.

There was no way out. None.

Still, the urge to improve and reproduce drove Lavos stronger than the aversion to fail to evolve and sire spawns. The eldritch horror had found a loophole both within its own programming and the seal. Any upgrades to the host had to be absolutely beneficial. Boons granted to the host counted as evolving the host. If the host reproduced and at least some its traits were passed on, Lavos's instincts would be satisfied.

Thus, the powerful entity would help Naruto.

* * *

Naruto's shadow clones were interesting in that they could talk to Sasuke, even if they couldn't spar with him. Naruto wasn't quite forthcoming with information, but the Uchiha was allowed to venture into the new workshops being set up in the town proper by the Nus, guided by a clone.

"Machinist?" inquired the Sharingan wielder upon reading the sign on one of the buildings.

"Builders of mechanical weaponry and steam engines and the like. Would you like to see what they do?"

"Why not? It'll pass the time until that crazy reptile lady finds me again."

The raven-haired youth stopped in his tracks as soon as he passed the threshold. Sasuke had never seen something so intriguing. Clockwork mechanisms powered by springs, steam-powered vehicles, chakra-powered flashlights, the list went on and on.

The shadow clones that were within perception range of their Rabosugans could see the look of wonder and interest on Sasuke's face. It seemed that the Uchiha had found a hobby. The raven-haired youth asked the Nu in charge if he could apprentice under him. The Nu shrugged and said "Why the Nuuuuu not?"

* * *

"Land ho!" called out the sailor in the crow's nest.

Naruto smirked as he saw the northernmost island in the chain known as Sea Country. He was on deck with the handful of other passengers observing the beauty of the water. He frowned when he spotted a creature approaching the ship below the waves. It was coming in from under the glare of the sun reflecting off of the ocean. It was humanoid, female, and fish-like. And it was carrying waterproof explosive tags in a satchel.

"Captain!" called out Naruto as he created a few clones to protect the passengers. "Incoming from below!"

At that point, the Jinchuuriki dove into the water, gating in the Kusanagi and holding it in his mouth (which he practiced during the time he built Zeal). As soon as he was submerged, he formed a cone-shaped Rasengan in each hand and on the soles of his feet, propelling him quickly and accurately towards the fish woman like a torpedo. He turned his head and swung at her with the poisonous sword. She dodged the blow in an admirable feat of underwater agility, but then, she hadn't been the true target. The pack of explosive notes she had been carrying had not been so lucky and was sliced in twain, ruining the seals necessary for the tags to work properly.

Unfortunately, Naruto couldn't stop or turn easily in the water (one of the things he was _still_ trying to figure out), so he overshot the fish woman. As he tried to slow down, he noticed two things: one, there was a fish MAN in the water headed straight for him, and two, the fish woman seemed to be panicking at the sight of Naruto wielding the Kusanagi in his mouth. Maybe she recognized the sword and thought he was Orochimaru? He could work with that. Maybe.

His time for contemplation was cut short as the fish man kicked him in the ribs, forcing the air contained in his lungs to be expelled and causing him to let go of his sword. Reflexively, he gated the Kusanagi out so he would not lose it. Knowing his time underwater had just been cut down to half a minute, he cast an Ice spell over each of his fists, one of which impacted the fish man and knocked him away. However, Naruto's speed began to increase gradually as the frozen water pulled him towards the surface just as planned. As Naruto's head broke the surface, he realized that he had a large concentration of nitrogen bubbles in his bloodstream before he passed out an incredible distance away from the ship.

* * *

"Well, damn," muttered the captain. "If I had known he was a ninja, I'd have charged him extra..."

One of the clones raised its eyebrow at that remark.

* * *

Sasuke looked curiously up at one of the floating landmasses that was disconnected from Zeal. It looked somewhat familiar.

"What is that?" he asked the master machinist, a Nu named Gideon.

"That is Wave, nuuuuu," replied the blue creature. "Naruto-dono found some ruins to a ninja village when he was building Zeal. Nuuuuu. He figured he'd preserve it to go through later."

"Couldn't he just see it all with those eyes of his?" the young man postulated.

"Nuuuuu, too many seals, apparently. A lot of them were storage seals, and some were seals that were designed to prevent a Hyuuga from looking through the materials they were placed on."

"Hn," grunted Sasuke. _So it has some common weaknesses with the Byakugan. We'll have to watch for that._

* * *

Tsunade was visiting Rock Lee in the Tokigakure General Hospital to instruct Naruto's clones in how to heal the poor boy.

"Your curative magic is odd in that it automatically seeks out damage and tries to repair it."

"I suppose it would be, considering how much conscious control your technique requires."

Another clone spoke up. "Though it does have the advantage of being entirely controllable. The spells may attempt to heal damage like Lee's in a wrong way as they do certain actions without direction whenever an injury is detected."

"By the way," a third clone said. "The real me got himself knocked out. He's fine though - shadow clones were able to ensure he made it to shore and are keeping a lookout for enemies."

"You know this because... ?" Tsunade asked.

"One of the clones dispelled and shared the information with the rest of us."

That came as a surprise to the slug sannin. As far as she knew shadow clones sent information only to their creator, not to their fellow clones.

* * *

Naruto awakened in a strange bed stuffed with straw and smelling of sea salt. One of his clones immediately dispelled as soon as it determined he was conscious.

_So I was "rescued" by a crazy old lady, huh?_

**_Seems like it. Also, that ship made it to port safely._**

Without moving a muscle the bronze-blond-turned-brunette turned his attention towards the side of the wooden hut, where the aforementioned crazy old lady was sitting and calmly sharpening a fishing spear.

"Crazy, stupid ninja," she muttered. "He may have scared away the fish people. I wonder if fish people taste like tilapia? Or chicken?"

After a second's hesitation Naruto opened his mouth. "I have it on good authority that they taste like algae."

"Pity," the woman lamented. "So, awake, are you?"

Feeling mischievous, he decided to see just how crazy she was. "Naw, I'm still asleep. Just dreaming."

She blinked for a second, before she laughed. "I may be old and _insane_, but even I can recognize bullshit when I hear it."

Naruto chuckled as he sat upright just to notice that he was stark naked under the heavy blanket she had placed over him. He could see his clothing and other gear drying outside the hut despite the fact his eyes were closed.

"Interesting eyes you have," commented the old woman. "All glowy and stuff."

"All the better to see you with," responded the man, not missing a beat.

"A wolf-man, are you?"

Naruto chuckled. "Not so much, no. I do know of a family of them that work for Konoha though."

"Ninja. Right." She eyed him speculatively. "What village are you from? I don't recognize the symbol."

Naruto opened his eyes and, despite not needing to, turned his head to make eye-contact. "Toki."

The headband marking that Spekkio had designed for him resembled the final quarter of a clock face, showing the time 11:56 pm, four minutes to midnight.

"So, does your village hide inside a clock?"

The container for Lavos got the distinct impression she was making fun of him. He recast his genjutsu over his eyes, turning them into a boring, forgettable brown before he corrected her.

"No, it hides inside of time itself."

"Ah. It would be silly if you hid it inside a clock."

"Yes. Yes it would."

* * *

The old lady's name was Sakaki - no surname. Sakaki had apparently gone over the deep end after her fisherman husband had died thirty years ago, and she knew it. She lived away from the village partially because she had been run out of it and partially because she didn't want to hurt anyone else.

Naruto was grateful for her assistance, though he neglected to let her know it was unnecessary as he had clones looking out for him. He bid her farewell, telling her that he'd visit from time to time in the future. For all his changes, Naruto was still a kind man at heart.

Seeing the fish woman within the range of his Rabosugan, he changed his transformation back to his real self and reapplied the genjutsu on his eyes before gating near her location.

* * *

While she looked fairly different, the girl was the same fish woman. Most of her scales had disappeared and the ones that hadn't were covered with bandages. She was carrying a bag of fresh fruit with her.

He was planning on spying on her and catching her for information when something happened that shocked his system. A group of villagers started throwing rocks at the fish woman and yelling at her.

"Die! Monster!" A rock hit her in the shoulder, spinning her around and causing her to drop the bag of groceries, spilling the produce everywhere.

"Freak!" Another stone hit her in the kneecap, cracking the vital bone slightly.

Without thinking, he reacted and caught a particularly large rock that was sailing towards her head, causing the fish woman to gasp. Naruto frowned and crushed the stone one-handed. He proceeded to glare at the unruly mob. Noticing that the villagers were beginning to pick up more rocks to throw, he temporarily dispelled the genjustu on his eyes, showing them in all their unnatural glory and hitting them hard with focused killing intent, before reapplying the illusion.

This spooked the mob enough for them to disperse quietly. Naruto turned to the fish girl, quickly analyzing her cracked kneecap. He offered her his hand to help her up.

She tentatively took it. She stumbled a bit when she put her weight on her left leg, but the bronze-blond caught her quickly.

"Careful!" he admonished softly. "Looks like your left leg sustained some damage. You can't really walk home now, can you?"

"No," she muttered. "I can't." She knew she couldn't lead this nice stranger to the lab.

Naruto growled a bit, but made sure it sounded human. "If I knew who exactly had thrown those rocks..."

Of course, he did actually know who had thrown them, and would visit prankful vengeance upon their heads when he had the time as retribution, but the girl couldn't know that.

"Well, I suppose you'll have to stay with me and my aunt Sakaki until you've healed. Does that sound alright?"

"I guess so..."

"I'm Toki, by the way."

"Isaribi."

Meanwhile...

Naruto's shadow clone was able to convey the plan to the crazy old woman. Liking the chance to meet one of the fish people, Sakaki quickly agreed to act as though she was Naruto's senile aunt.

* * *

After being shown how to make the simple machine by Gideon, Sasuke constructed his first rifle. Test-firing it proved how fast it was. The projectile, a metal ball, was about as fast as the fastest ninja Sasuke had managed to see with his two-tomoe Sharingan so far, but with his dojutsu active he could see how inaccurate the machine was. Perhaps if he could prevent the ball from tumbling wildly through the air... maybe if he put a spin on it? Also, the ball didn't have much mass to it and couldn't deal much damage when it actually hit the mark, as shown by the fact that the projectile was merely lodged into the surface of the wooden target instead of punching through. Hmm... perhaps if the composition of the powder could be changed somehow... Also, couldn't one change the shape of the bullet to make it heavier and more aerodynamic? And one last thing: the rate of fire was far too slow to be effective in battle.

When he presented these theories to Gideon, the Nu laughed. "Nuhuhuhuhu! You have figured out the problems with the simple black-powder rifle! And after only one test run! Most apprentices take weeks to figure them all out! Nuuuuu, I'm glad you are my apprentice, Sasuke."

The strange, blue creature yawned before continuing. "Tomorrow I shall teach you about rifling, smokeless powder, shaped bullets, chambered shells, and automatic re-chambering mechanisms. But... time for me to go to bed, Nuuuuu."

Before Sasuke could object, the door to the workshop closed in his face.

"Hn," grunted the young Uchiha, frustrated with how rude the master machinist was at times.

He suddenly ducked, barely dodging a high roundhouse kick Anko tried to nail him with.

"Enough playing with toys!" she declared. "Time to play with me!"

Sasuke muttered an obscenity under his breath while dodging the Reptite summoner's kill strikes.

* * *

End Chapter Eight.

Next Chapter: secrets are discovered.

Author's Notes

GAH! This was a pain in the neck to push out. Hence why it is so short. I will expand this chapter at a later date... if I remember.

Reasons why this chapter (or anything I tried to write recently) got delayed so long: 1) power cord for the laptop died in March and had to be replaced and it took until early May to get it replaced, 2) got really distracted in May by going to Phoenix ComiCon, 3) work hours are $#!7 as is the pay and that depresses me, 4) other authors kept distracting me with really good fanfics, 5) I became a brony and was distracted by all that, and 6) some people accused my wife of plagiarism and the flamewar that started because she tried to be professional about the accusations and attacks have pissed me off beyond belief.

Things that any of you happen to care about from the above list: none.

With that out of the way, I would like to thank Dumbledork for dealing with my insane ramblings and correcting my mistakes (and helping me from time to time with the plot).

And yes, because I am part of the herd of bronies, I will be writing a FiM fic at some point in the future. You do not have to read it - no one is forcing you to. But it will be written by me and posted by me. If your day is brightened after reading it, YOU CAN NOT BLAME ME!

Ahem. Now to go watch "Party of One".


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